Resounding
by ooliblikas
Summary: Roxas Kaufmann is a juvenile delinquent thrust into the self-indulgent and overly-privileged world of St. Jude's Preparatory School. From late-night vandalism to brawling with smart-mouthed trust fund babies, Roxas can't help but wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes. To top it off, everyone is caught up in a web of vicious gossip being perpetuated by someone under the pseudonym 'X'
1. Prologue

_Watch me take a crowbar_

 _To your brand new car_

 _Without the things your daddy bought you_

 _You won't get very far_

 _Without your plastic friends_

 _And your odds and ends_

 _Would you still be a star?_

 **I hope that you're insured**

"Dad is going to flip out if he finds out that we took his truck!" Namine whined from the passenger seat, her knees bouncing out of anxious habit. Her eyes darted between the winding road in front of them and to her brother, Roxas, in the driver seat.

"Which is why we're not going to tell him." Roxas stated matter-of-factly, raising his brows to emphasize his point, "It won't even take that long. In and out." As he spoke he rolled down the window, briefly inhaling the summer air before lighting a cigarette.

Namine frowned, making a show of waving the smoke out of her face, "Do you really think we should be testing your boundaries? I mean, you did get your license taken away."

Roxas exhaled a puff of smoke, thinking of how he'd spent his summer under house arrest after being charged for reckless driving. He assumed Namine had a point, but rather than acknowledging the red-flag, he shot Namine a side glance, "Do you want to get back at that asshole or what?"

Namine squirmed in her seat, persumably contemplating the question, "I mean—I guess so. " Her voice trailed off as she turned her head away from Roxas to look out the passenger-side window.

"Exactly! So let's make sure the stupid fucker gets what he deserves." Roxas' lips curled into a devious smirk, accentuated by the street-lights that reflected off his porcelain skin, "The GPS says we're almost there, anyway."

"Are you sure they're even going to be here?" Namine bit her bottom lip, knowing it was a stupid question. It was the last day of summer, which always meant a bonfire and camping at the campsite on the outskirts of the city.

"Of course, Hayner said it's an annual tradtion." Roxas snorted.

As Roxas pulled up to their destination, he killed the headlights to the car and pulled into the parking lot of the campsite. After finding an easy spot to maneuver out of, he turned off the engine and smoothed out his blond hair, pulling a black beanie over his head.

Next to him, his sister twisted her hair up into a bun, mimicking his actions with noticeable hesitation. Whereas Roxas was used to being a degenerate, Namine had never even returned a library book late, let alone engaged in illegal activity.

"Here put these on." Roxas insisted, tossing a pair of black leather gloves to Namine before putting on a pair of his own. While Namine worked on the gloves, he opened the door and hopped out of the truck. As he busied himself with putting his hood up, "Which car is his?" He whispered, glancing over the numerous luxury cars that were clustered together. In the distance, Roxas could hear the hum of music and the chatter of voices, indicating they were certainly at the right place.

Namine looked around the parking lot until she spotted the familiar vehicle, "It's the silver Ferrari."

Roxas glanced up to actively observe the car, snorting, "Of fucking course it is. Wouldn't expect anything less from a Hawkins, right?" The blond scoffed, tossing his cigarette onto the ground and snuffing it out with the toe of his boot, "Alright, y'know the drill, quick and dirty."

The male trailed off as he walked towards the back end of the truck, using the rear bumper to hoist himself up so that he could pull items from the bed of the truck. Leaning forward, he grabbed a back pack and tossed it to Namine before grabbing a baseball bat and a crowbar. Jumping back down, he traded the crowbar for the back-pack, slinging it over his shoulder before gesturing for Namine to follow him.

Roxas could sense that Namine was teetering on the edge of retreating, but he didn't let it distract him as they snuck over to where the ferarri was parked, careful not to attract any unnecessary attention to themselves. Crouching next to the left front tire, Roxas pulled out a can of black spray paint from inside of the bag, shaking it as he looked at Namine, "As soon as we start the alarms going to go off. Which means we've got about ten minutes to book it back to the truck and get the hell out of dodge." Roxas spoke calmly, as if he were reciting the weekly forecast.

Without waiting for confirmation from Namine, he stood and began to carefully spray out the sentence, 'I hope you're insured' onto the car's hood. His hand moved with well-practiced ease, having a few years of tagging as his background. Once satisfied, he tossed the can into the nearby woods before turning to smirk at his sister, "Care to have the first swing?" He shifted his weight to his left leg, twirling the bat in one hand.

Namine hesistated, wringing her hands around the metal of the crowbar as if to solidify how entirely out of place she was in this scene. However, after a long exhale, she nodded. With what Roxas could only describe as repressed anger, Namine swung the crowbar into the driver's side window. As soon as the crowbar made contact with the window, the glass shattered, spraying shards of glass onto the leather interior of the car. As soon as the alarm went off, Namine's mouth formed into an 'O' of suprsie before she laughed, seemingly satisfied with her work.

"'Atta girl." Roxas encouraged, twirling the bat with a flick of his wrist before winding up and smashing out the head-lights. As if in rhythm with the car alarm, the two siblings proceeded to smash out windows, tail-lights, and even side-view mirrors. Glass littered both the interior and exterior of the car, reflecting off the moonlight.

At some point the distant music and chatter had ceased, turning into incoherent yelling that neither sibling could decipher over their own laughter. With their time to flee running out, Roxas dragged his car key against the metal of the door, leaving a thick and jagged white line, "I think we've made our point!" Roxas snickered, gently pushing Namine back towards the truck.

As Roxas ran around to the back of the truck, he tossed the evidence into the bed of the truck before joining Namine up front, sliding into the driver seat's where he proceeded to start the engine. Just as people were emerging from the trail that connected the camp-site to the parking lot , Roxas flicked on his high-beams to momentarily blind the newcomers and give them additional coverage. Roxas quickly shifted into 'reverse', peeling out of the parking lot, tires screeching against the pavement.

Shifting back into 'drive', the blonde turned the wheel until they were back onto the road, adjusting his lights as he accelerated well past the speed limit. He shifted his gaze from spotting any patrolling cops to checking for any drunken teenagers who might be trying to catch up to them.

In the passenger seat, Namine was gulping air between laughs as she continued to look behind them, "That wasn't Riku's car!" The girl finally sputtered out between her laughs, seemingly trying to get ahold of herself but unable to.

If Roxas hadn't been desperate to flee the scene, he would've slammed on the brakes at her statement. Instead, he frantically looked between Namine, the road ahead of them, and the road behind them, "What the fuck do you mean?!" Roxas snapped, unsure as to why his sister was laughing.

"I thought it was his until I saw the silver Mercedes." Namine covered her mouth, stifling her laugh as she looked mildly bewildered by her own mistake, "I thought Riku drove a silver Ferarri!" The girl dropped her hand to let out another howl of a laugh.

Roxas wasn't nearly as amused at the moment, briefly throwing his hands up in exasperation, "You can't tell the difference between a Mercedes and a god damn Ferrari?"

Namine furrowed her brows together, making a face at her brother, "It was an honest mistake!"

For a moment the only sound came from the hum of the engine, Roxas looked at his sister as if she had grown a second head, but the absurdity of the situation seemed to outweigh his anger. Both siblings exchanged another quick glance at each other, and then over their shoulder to the blackened road behind them, before breaking out into laughter.

"Okay, but whose car did we just vandalize?" Roxas shook his head in disbelief, passing the street sign that read 'Welcome to Pinecrest', informing them they'd crossed town lines.

"Who cares? It was a blast!" Namine smiled, removing the beanie from her head and pulling her hair from its bun, "I guess we're not as different as everyone says we are." Namine laughed, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, minus the fact that I know the difference between a Mercedes and a Ferrari!" Roxas quipped, removing his own beanie. "I'd feel bad, but anyone Riku includes in his inner circle is bound to be another rich asshole." Roxas sneered, rolling his eyes.

Namine smiled despite her brother's teasing, "Yeah, but it would've been a good start to the school year if it'd been Riku's car."

Roxas chuckled, rolling his shoulders, "Well, now that you're a certified juvenile delinquent, we can still find another way to pay him back," Roxas glanced at his sister, arching a brow, "But before we go on an international sibling crime spree, we should get the truck back before dad wakes up."

Just as the clock rolled over to twelve, Roxas turned the headlights off and pulled into the driveway. Silently closing the doors to the truck, Roxas lead his sister around the back of their house. Thankful that his bedroom was on the first floor, Roxas found the partially propped open window and slid it open with ease, "Give me a boost and I'll pull you in." Roxas suggested.

Given that Roxas was only two inches taller than Namine and was on the thinner spectrum of the 'athletic' build, Namine was able to use her hands to help Roxas climb back into his bedroom window. Once he was inside, he helped hoist her into the room.

"Thanks, Roxas." Namine smiled, walking towards Roxas' bedroom door so that she could sneak into her room.

"Yeah, next time try not to fall for a snake." Roxas snorted, flopping down onto his bed just as Namine rolled her eyes and stepped out into the darkness of their hallway.

Roxas didn't know whose car they'd vandalized, but it was sure to be a topic discussion on the first day of classes.

 **Author's Note:** A small idea that's been brewing in my head.


	2. Chapter One

**Roxas**

"Still can't believe you lost your license." Roxas' best friend, Hayner, snickered from the side-lines as he watched Roxas' lock up his bike. Hayner was the first person Roxas had met since transferring to St. Jude's a year ago. Coincidentally, they had met in detention and had been fairly inseparable since. Even though they'd only known each other for a year, Roxas trusted him almost as much as he trusted his sister.

In Response to Hayner's taunts, Roxas shot him an icy-glare before getting up from his crouched position, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Don't remind me. I had to get a part-time job in order to pay off the damage and pay my dad for the insurance hike. On top of that, I also have to do five-hundred hours of court-ordered community service."

"Guess you're not winning the 'Son of The Year' award, then?" Hayner chuckled, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "I'd give you a ride, but Janice isn't ready yet."

Roxas rolled his eyes, 'Janice' was Hayner's car, although calling it a 'car' was a little too kind. The old junker had more in common with a pile of scrap metal than a car, but Hayner loved it nonetheless. From what Roxas understood, Hayner's father had been a small-town mechanic until becoming the owner of one of the largest car dealerships' in the state. Despite their wealth, Hayner's father remained adamant that his children learn the value of a dollar rather than having _everything_ handed to them. Which meant that Hayner's father went half-way with Hayner on purchasing 'Janice', leaving Hayner to fix her up during his free time. Hayner, who had a knack for fixing things, was more than happy to accept the offer.

"I don't think Janice will be ready in my life time, so no worries." Roxas smirked, earning himself a 'hey' and a moderately gentle jab to his right bicep from Hayner.

"Whose Janice?" Namine approached the two, having hitched a ride with their father who refused to give Roxas a lift under the pretense that Roxas could use the exercise.

"A pile of scrap metal that Hayner swears is a car." Roxas answered cooly, teasing Hayner.

However, Hayner didn't seem to be paying attention. Instead, he was looking at the motorcycle that pulled into the senior parking lot, "Holy fuck, I can't believe he's back." Hayner let out a whistle to punctuate his disbelief. Roxas knitted his brows in confusion, not only at Hayner's reaction, but the sudden stillness and hushed whispers of the nearby student body who ceased their first-day reunions to stare.

When the engine of the motorcycle was killed, the person riding it removed his helmet, revealing a mop of cherry-red hair and poisonous green-eyes. The man was too far away to make out any other distinguishable features, though Roxas swore the kid had tattoos on his face. Which, having grown up on the South side of Chicago, was never a good sign.

The senior didn't seem to be paying any attention to the numerous stares, or if he did notice, he certainly didn't show it. Instead, the red-head made a beeline to Riku, both men laughing and talking animatedly.

No longer finding any interest in the scene, Roxas refocused his attention on Hayner, "Who is he?"

"Axel Lancaster." Hayner answered in a mumble, almost as if his disbelief turned to disdain.

"Lancaster? Why does that sound familiar?" Namine questioned, folding her arms over her chest as she leaned in towards Roxas, trying to get a better view of the two seniors across the parking lot.

Hayner opened his mouth to answer, but Roxas beat him to it, "Lancaster Hotels, I'm guessing. Dad got me a job at the one on 7th street, remember?"

"That's the one." Hayner agreed, pulling his attention away from Axel and Riku to Roxas, "Axel used to attend St. Jude. Although I use 'attend' lightly, he practically ran it. Not in the same way Riku thinks he runs it, but more that Axel was all charm and good-looks. People either want to be him, or be with him. He seems harmless up until he's stabbing you in the back."

Roxas listened to Hayner talk, suddenly feeling as if he had entered a 'Mean Girls' script, but he could tell that Hayner was more on edge than normal. Part of him wanted to ask if the two had history, but he thought better of it, "Right, so he's just another asshole trust fund-baby with sociopathic tendencies. Basically a carbon copy of all the other losers Riku associates himself with." Roxas mused, not understanding the fuss over the kid.

"So, wait, you said he was back, right? Where was he before?" Namine interjected, furrowing her brows together.

"At the end of his sophomore year, before you transferred in, there was a lot of rumors that Axel was involved in drugs. There was even a rumor that he'd been arrested for drug possession, but no one knows for sure. Long story short, he basically fell off the radar sophomore year. His father pulled him out of school and sent him, not only out of state, but out of the fucking country. No one has heard from him since, hell, a lot of people don't even think Riku was kept in the loop after his departure." Hayner frowned, rolling his shoulders forward "He's bad news, man."

Both Roxas and Namine nodded nonchalantly, although Roxas could see that Namine was visibly getting anxious over the conversation. Ever since they transferred, Riku and his posse had targeted them relentlessly, presumably because they weren't actually 'prep school material'. While everyone was here on their parent's dollar, Roxas and Namine were here based on their grades and the school's lottery system that awarded two students that opportunity to be enrolled despite their financial instability.

Roxas shifted his gaze over to where Axel and Riku were walking towards the school's entrance, Kairi and Larxene joining them. Just before Roxas went to look away, Axel seemingly looked in his direction. Roxas felt himself subconsciously roll his eyes before looking at Hayner and Namine, "Well, can't say I have any interest in getting chummy with Riku's posse, but warning received, nonetheless."

* * *

By fourth period, Roxas was harvesting a headache and rubbing his temples was all he could to keep himself from snapping at the nearest person. Apparently, everyone who was anyone knew about how he'd been arrested for reckless driving and had spent his summer on house arrest. People were either whispering about him, or straight up asking him questions. It was exhausting and nauseating.

As he entered the chemistry classroom, he was relieved to find it empty, giving him a few moments of respite. He found his seat towards the middle of the class, sitting at one of the tables before busying himself with his cell-phone. Aside from his house-arrest, he'd also been punished by his parents, including the fact that he hadn't been allowed access to the internet all summer. Thus, with his re-discovered freedom, he found himself browsing through various social media platforms to see what he'd missed.

He'd been so enthralled in his phone that he barely noticed that the classroom had filled up, or that the teacher had walked in until she cleared her throat, effectively ending the chatter. As soon as she began writing her name out on the white-board, a final student drifted into the class room.

"Axel Lancaster, I presume. I'm sure you don't require an introduction." The teacher mused, arching a brow. Axel snorted, giving her a half-assed salute as if giving her permission to continue conducting her class.

Scanning the classroom, Roxas quickly realized that the only available seat was the one next to him. As he narrowed his eyes at the vacant stool, he briefly debated if he had it in him to act insane enough to insist that the chair was taken by his imaginary friend. The blonde was almost on the verge of saying 'yes' when the red-head sat down.

For a brief moment they made eye-contact, giving Roxas enough time to assess that Axel's face was indeed tattooed. Not only that, but the red-head was almost a head taller than him and smelled strongly of weed, suggesting any time he spent at rehab presumably didn't work.

No longer interested in ogling the stranger, he turned his gaze back to his cell-phone.

Half way into the teacher going over safety protocols, a girl in front of them, Selphie, turns in her seat to look at Axel. She smiles at him, her movements painfully languid. Selphie was the type of girl that always tried to penetrate the inner circle of Riku's group, but never had quite the edge to do it. Still, out of the corner of his eye, Roxas could see the red-head curl his lips into a smirk.

"Did your dad flip out about the car?" The girl whispered, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to make sure the teacher wasn't looking at them.

In response, Axel snorted, less discrete about breaking classroom etiquette, "No, he's already got someone replacing the windows as we speak."

As soon as the words left Axel's mouth, Roxas felt a bundle of nerves harden in the pit of his stomach. He almost never got anxious, far too impulsive and reckless to waste his time on being anxious. Yet, here he was, stomach knotting at the mere suggestion that he was sitting next to the owner of the car that Namine and he had vandalized last night. Roxas tried to tell himself that it was probably just a cruel coincidence, but given that Axel was friends with Riku, it could still be a real possibility that the red-head had been at the party last night.

"That's crazy. Do you have any idea who did it?" The girl questioned, arching a brow.

"Nah." The answer was short, flippant. The girl seemed vaguely dejected at the sudden shut-down, but she maintained her composure as she turned around in her seat.

 **NAMINE**

"She's such a _fucking_ bitch." Was Sora's greeting to Namine the moment he slammed his tray of food onto the cafeteria table, unceremoniously plopping down into the seat next to her, "I swear to _fucking_ god, if she tells me to correct the posters one more time, I'm going to push her down a flight of stairs."

Namine almost spat her soda out at the image of Sora pushing Kairi down a flight of stairs, but she managed to swallow the liquid in between laughs, "It's only the first day of classes, what could she have possibly done?"

"Satan doesn't stop for summer vacation, Nam." Sora countered, exhaling as he combed his fingers through his brown hair, "She wants me to start hanging up posters for the fashion show, even though it isn't until November. The girl micromanages everything except her fucking pussy." As the brunette spoke, he bit into of his French-fries, a scowl imprinted on his face.

"Sora!" Namine scolded, scrunching her face up in disgust at the mere suggestion of Kairi's sex-life, "That's disgusting. How many posters do you have to put up?"

"One-hundred twenty-five flyers and a banner for each main stair well." Sora sighed, rolling his eyes, "As if I don't have a life outside of school."

Namine giggled, shrugging her shoulders, "I can stay after school and help, " Just as the offer left her lips, her phone buzzed and looking at the screen a text message from Roxas read, 'I think I know whose car we vandalized.' Namine frowned, knitting her brows together, "On second thought, I'm pretty sure Roxas and I have to do something for our dad after school." Namine lied, smiling apologetically.

Sora snorted, "Don't worry about it, how's your brother, anyway? Heard he got his license taken away."

 **Roxas**

Aside from the possibility that his chemistry partner was the victim of his late-night vandalism spree, Roxas felt that his first day of classes had gone pretty smooth. At least, up until he went to unlock his bike from the bike rack. Someone had apparently added an additional lock to his bike, making it impossible for Roxas to remove the bike unless he got the key from whoever had locked it.

Roxas stared at his bike dumbly before hearing familiar snicker. The blond closed his eyes for the moment, inhaling through his nose before turning to face Riku. The senior in question was leaning against the hood of his vehicle, Axel perched on his motor-cycle next to him, looking disinterested in the event taking placed.

As Roxas studied Riku, it dawned on him that the asshole had not only gone to the trouble of messing with his bike, but he'd even moved his car closer to the bike rack just so that could get amusement from his agony.

If Roxas didn't want to kill him, he would've found the man's pension for sadism amusing.

With a sigh of annoyance, Roxas found himself dropping his bag near his bike before walking over to where Riku was, "Unlock my bike." Roxas demanded, unamused.

Riku merely laughed, rolling his shoulders forward in a shrug, "I don't know what you're talking about." Riku countered, his face twisted into an expression of pure amusement.

"Oh, yeah? Think if I break your nose it'll jog your memory?" Roxas spat, his patience wearing thin.

At the threat, Riku smirked and pushed himself off the hood of his car, sauntering over to where Roxas stood. As a football player, Riku was not only a good couple of inches taller than Roxas, but he was also significantly stronger than Roxas, "I'd like to see you try."

Roxas stood his ground, jaw tightening as he maintained his heated-glare, "Unlike you, I have a job to get to. So give me the fucking key." To make a point, the blond presented an expectant hand.

"Just give the kid the key." Axel drawled out, seemingly disinterested in the game of cat and mouse that was playing out in front of him. The red-head raised his brows, sliding the tooth pick in his mouth to the right corner of his lips, "I don't have time to fuck around with trailer trash."

Roxas ignored the blatant insult, keeping his eyes trained on Riku. Just when the blond was about to give up and have Hayner break the lock with one of the tools from the metal shop class, Riku reluctantly handed over the key, a smirk still playing on his features.

The blond snatched the key away and turned on his heels, just in time for Riku to open his mouth, "Say 'hi' to that slut you call a sister."

The fuck did you just say?" Roxas turned, quickly approaching Riku. While RIku was undoubtedly stronger than Roxas, he wasn't nearly as fast as him. Before the platinum blond could register what was happening, Roxas had managed to grab a fist full of the man's shirt collar, arm-cocked back to deck the football player in face.

"Roxas!" Namine yelled, coming up behind them with Hayner in tow.

At the sound of Namine's voice, he hesistated in his motion, registering the fact that he couldn't risk getting into any more trouble. Thus, just as quickly as Roxas' fuse had been lit, he just as quickly fizzled out. Stepping away from Riku, he put both his hands up in mock surrender until he joined Namine and Hayner.

In the heat of the moment, Roxas hadn't see the amused grin that etched its way onto Axel's features.

 **Riku**

Ever since the incident in the parking lot, he'd been notably heated. He had wanted to push Roxas over the brink, but Axel had interrupted it. He could have pushed his luck, but Axel had a knack of destroying more than just a reputation or two. Even ten years of friendship didn't protect him from the underlining wraith that was Axel Lancaster.

As of now, he was supposed to be picking Kairi up from cheer-practice, but instead he was watching a brunette haphazardly try to hang up a banner above the stair well that lead up towards the gymnasium. Even standing on the opposite side of the hall, he could hear the kid cursing up a storm. As he approached the brunette, debating whether he would actually lend a hand or make a snide comment, the universe decided for him.

In his frustration, the brunette tried to force a tac into the wall, only for it to prick him in the finger, resulting in a domino effect of the brunette yelping, losing his balance, and the folding chair collapsing under his weight. Without much thought, Riku reached out to catch the brunette, or at least spare the kid from a trip to the hospital.

"Fuck!" The brunette cursed, the air momentarily knocked out of him as Riku's arm wrapped around his waist line, sparring him from landing face first onto the freshly waxed tile floor. When he was set back onto his feet, the brunette barely acknowledge him as he instead tore down the poster with unbridled ferocity, "That fucking cunt Kairi can hang up her own damn posters!"

As he finished crumpling the banner into a ball, he spun on his heels to acknowledge his savior. However, upon seeing Riku, the color effectively drained from his face. The kid who'd been cursing up a hurricane, now shrunk under Riku's gaze, "Ah, hi, Riku."

Now that the kid was facing him, he recognized him to be one of the sophomore's that hung around Namine while simultaneously playing obedient dog for Kairi. Riku scanned over him for a moment, "Are you alright?" He drawled, arching a brow as he chose to ignore the fact that the kid had insulted his girlfriend.

"I'm f-fine." The brunette squeaked out, clearing his throat before repeating himself. Despite the brunette's hesitance, his cerulean eyes lit up with newfound excitement, "Hey, you could help me put up these banners!"

Riku snorted, arching a brow, "I should've let you hit your head." He moved to push past the brunette.

"Wait, wait, wait!" The kid practically pleaded, reaching out to grab onto the sleeve of his leather jacket, "Listen, I really need to get home by five and it would _really_ help me out if I had another person to help me."

Riku glanced back at the brunette, scoffing at the desperation in the male's voice as he yanked his arm away from the male, "No thanks." He offered a final smirk before walking through the double-doors and leaving the brunette to pout in defeat.


	3. Chapter Two

**Roxas**

Roxas managed to bike downtown in record time, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a truck in the process. Fearing that he'd be late, he half-assed scrambled to change into his uniform and stuffed his back-pack and street clothes into one of the lockers provided to employees. He dodged his manager, making it a point to beeline straight to his post at the receptionist desk to retrieve the list of rooms that needed cleaning. He was in the middle of tucking his white button-up shirt into his black slacks when someone spoke to him.

"Are you following me?" The voice was masculine and Roxas snapped his head up, narrowing his eyes at the unmistakable lanky figure that belonged to Axel. The red-head's features were very cat-like up close, a narrow face and a hard jaw-line that complimented his high cheekbones. In the dim-light of the hotel lobby, his eyes were more of a forest green, and the small, triangular tattoos were nowhere to be found. Roxas presumed they were hidden beneath foundation or a tattoo concealer, given that face tattoos weren't exactly hotel-policy.

"I could ask you the same." Roxas managed, clipping his name tag on to his shirt while walking behind the desk where the red-head was leaning against the front counter.

"You could, but I was here first. Time-wise, birth-order, and divine-right." The words came out smoothly, the man maintaining a stoic expression minus the small upward quirk to the right side of his mouth. If Roxas was being honest, he was pretty sure 'smug' was the red-head's natural state.

"So divine you're working at a third-rate hotel?" It was far from the truth. The Lancaster hotels stood out like sore thumbs, monstrous buildings that boasted their architectural splendor. The hotels were the largest buildings in the reasonably sized city, and if their size didn't attract attention, the dark-red search-lights that lit up the building's exterior, coating it in a cherry-red hue, certainly caught one's attention. Most of the patrons were nauseatingly rich, woman with bug-eyed sunglasses and tiny dogs who thanked the stars above that the hotels accepted pets. The men were usually flanked with woman who were rarely ever their wives, corporate honchos attending conferences.

"You know my father owns this hotel, right?" Roxas didn't miss the underlining superiority in Axel's voice. The ' _Don't you know who I am?'_ anthem of adolescents with a weekly allowance of a thousand dollars. Roxas wondered if his face reflected his inner thoughts as Axel's jaw tightened, the muscles bulging the slightest bit to let Roxas know the red-head's patience was wearing thin.

"Did I stutter?" Was Roxas' reply, turning his face away to grab the clip-board that was tucked away in the top drawer, a list of recent check-outs informing him what rooms needed to be cleaned out and restocked.

If Axel intended to say anything, it was cut short by a middle-aged man who walked up to the counter, "Heard you were working here now, Lancaster." Their manager, Luxord, arched a brow as he looked over Axel, "I thought your father was bullshitting, but yet, here you are." The man spoke through forced enthusiasm, "I mean really, kid, you're not even back for twenty-fours and you get your car wrecked?"

Roxas glanced between the two, getting the impression that Luxord was probably closer to the Lancaster family than his career choice let on.

"And I see you met the newbie, Roxas, right?" Luxord now smirked at him.

A part of Roxas _, a strong part_ , wanted to congratulate the man on his inability to read his name-tag, but instead gave him a well-rehearsed polite smile. The type of smile he'd been trained to give to adults since the first time he broke one of his parent's rules. The type of smile that painted him as a Saint rather than a Sinner, and boy, was he good at it.

"That's right. Axel and I were just getting to know each other." Roxas arched a brow, looking between the two, "But if you'll excuse me now, I have work to do."

There were not enough rubber-gloves or bottles of bleach that could convince Roxas that he was safe from bacterial infection. The first room had been a relative breeze minus a couple overflowing ash-trays, empty beer bottles, and the faint smell of mold. However, everything immediately went downhill after that.

As of now, he was having a staring contest with a semen-filled condom that was perfectly preserved on top of, not the bed, but the _table_. It seemed to be watching his every move as he tried to skirt around it, saving it for the last thing his rubber gloves would have to touch. Eventually though, he had no choice but to deal with it. As if he was performing surgery, he delicately grabbed the opening to the condom, index and thumb gingerly pinching the latex closed. Holding the offending object at arm's length, he carefully guided it towards the trash-can, plopping it into the trash where he quickly tied the bag closed.

And boy, did he wish that was the worst of the night. It was clear that the hotel patrons weren't just nauseatingly rich, they were also just plain nauseating. If it wasn't garbage littering the floor, it was an unidentifiable stain that Roxas could only assume was some type of human body fluid.

Thankfully, not all of the rooms were a hopeless disaster, but by the time he was finished with his shift, Roxas was promising himself that he would never spend another night at a hotel.

As he was re-entering the lobby, he finished crossing off the last room on the list before handing the clip-board to an expectant Luxord who had joined Axel in manning the receptionist desk, "How was the first day, kid?" Luxord questioned. The middle-aged man leaned forward, his arms folded on top of the desk.

Roxas didn't answer, instead giving Luxord a look that made the older blond let out a cackle of a laugh, "Yeah, you'll get used to it, kid."

 **Namine**

"Roxas, if you don't get up now, you're going to be late." Namine poked her heard into her brother's room, noting that her brother was curled-up in a cocoon of sheets, blankets, and pillows. He grunted in acknowledgement, but immediately turned on his side to escape the light that filtered in from the doorway.

Namine frowned, stepping into the darkened cave that her brother insisted was a bedroom. She walked over to where the windows were, studying the black bed-sheet that her brother had hung up as a makeshift curtain. With a shrug, she yanked the sheet down and listened to her brother let out a muffled groan, or hiss, she couldn't be sure.

"Get up unless you want mom to come in here and see all of these beer bottles." Namine threatened, knowing that their mother always connected drinking to drugs. Which, of course, meant an impromptu at-home drug test, something their mother randomly sprang on him ever since she discovered that he smoked pot in the eighth grade. It never lead to anything aside from a lot of yelling, both of their parents gravitating between overbearing to downright neglectful. Still, Namine knew it was an inconvenience Roxas wouldn't want to go through.

That seemed to set Roxas into motion as he sat up, eyes squinting into the sun-light and hair sticking up in several different directions, "That's fucked up, Nam." Roxas muttered, his voice a hoarse rasp.

"Got you up, didn't it?" Namine smiled, filtering past her brother to finish getting ready herself.

In the bathroom, she smoothed over her cream-colored blouse before leaning toward the mirror and applying red-lipstick. As she began applying eye-liner, she spotted Roxas watching her out of the corner of her eye. As she leaned back, she blinked several times before looking back at Roxas, "Are you going to Demyx's after school today?"

Roxas squeezed past his sister, nabbing his tooth brush and toothpaste from the counter before squirting some onto the tooth-brush, idly watching Namine continue applying her makeup, "Yeah, haven't seen him all summer, so I promised I'd stop by."

Roxas let out a snort before brushing his teeth, his dead-gaze reminding Namine of a zombie foaming at the mouth. After spitting into the sink, he leaned back up with an arched brow, "Why?"

Namine paused, considering her words carefully before rolling her shoulders, "Just asking, I guess."

Roxas wasn't buying her act as he slid his tooth brush back into the holder, "Is this your way of asking if you can tag along?"

Namine turned to face him, studying his expression for a moment before jutting out her lower lip in a pout, "Please?" To emphasize her point, she batted her eye-lashes.

"No, Xigbar and Saix are going to be there." Roxas countered with ease, effectively snuffing out any hope Namine had.

"So what? It's not like I haven't been around them before." Namine protested as she began tossing her makeup back into her make-up bag, looking at Roxas through the reflection of the mirror now.

"It's just not a good idea. " Roxas cut the conversation short, his hardened gaze revealing all the information she needed to know.

 **Sora**

"Is this going to work?"

Even though the school was deserted this early in the morning, he still didn't appreciate the fact that his friend, Olette, insisted they meet in the girl's bathroom. She had instructed him to hop up onto the counter, which he did, feet dangling over the edge as he watched her shuffle through her make-up bag.

"Of course" Olette stated matter-of-factly, pulling out a skin-colored tube that Sora assumed was the 'foundation' Olette had been talking about, "Give me your hand." The brunette female held out her own hand in expectation, raising her brows in impatience when he didn't immediately surrender the appendage to her.

When he did, she quickly applied some of the liquid onto his skin, mixing it until it mostly blended into his skin, "Perfect, I had a feeling we were the same skin-tone." Olette commented to herself absent mindedly, turning now to instead dab some of the liquid onto Sora's left cheek bone.

Between the cold liquid and the pressure of Olette's finger, Sora flinched out of discomfort, exhaling sharply through his nose.

"How'd you even get this bruise anyway? I mean, geez, Sora, it looks pretty bad." Olette commented, frowning as she used her index and middle finger to blend the foundation into his skin, reapplying a dab more in order to get the most coverage.

"Thanks." Sora snorted, earning himself a small glare from Olette, "It's not a big deal, really. My dad was drinking again, y'know how it goes." Sora avoided eye-contact with his friend, suddenly feeling as if he was being examined under a microscope.

"Seriously Sora?! You need to talk to the guidance counselor about this shit. He can't keep doing this to you, it's been like this since we were in elementary school." Olette snapped, slamming the tube of concealer onto the counter.

Out of reflex, Sora flinched at the outburst, briefly reimagining the argument he had with his father over him being late in coming home. Keeping his eyes closed for a few moments, he exhaled and looked at his friend, "I can't, Olette."

Olette didn't respond to that, instead closing the tube of concealer and blatantly ignoring Sora as she packed her stuff up again. She was ready to walk out of the bathroom, only stopped by Sora who frantically grabbed her by the crook of the arm, "And you can't tell anyone either, Olette." Sora searched the brunette's face, trying to decipher what she was thinking, "You have to promise." Sora insisted, fear evident on his features as he tried to coax his friend into keeping the promise.

Olette frowned, turning to face him fully, her eyes glistening under the fluorescent lights, "What do you want me to do, Sora? Sit back and let that asshole beat you? Do what you want, Sora, but don't ask me to help you conceal your father's _abuse_. "

Without another word, the girl stormed out of the restroom, leaving Sora to his thoughts. The brunette ran fingers through his hair, raking at his hair out of frustration and fear. Fear that Olette would tell someone, and then, there was shame. Shame that he was more willing to hide his abuse, then to confront it.

Grabbing his back-pack off the counter, he caught a glimpse of his reflection. The concealer hid his bruise, but he could still feel it. The minimal swelling continued to pulsate beneath the makeup, irritated from the gentle pressure that Olette had applied when putting on the concealer.

He put his hands on the rim of the sink, leaning forward to study his face. Then, he spat at his own reflection, grabbing his bag off the counter and walking out of the bathroom, looking to go anywhere but to his first class.

 **Kairi**

"Do you know Sora Chesterfield?" The red-head mused from the passenger seat of Riku's Mercedes, looking through her phone as she looked at Larxene in the backseat, and then to Riku in the driver's seat.

"Isn't he the sophomore who hangs out with Namine?" Larxene answered with feigned interest, snapping her gum as she filed her freshly manicured nails, examining them with a critical eye.

Riku thought of the brunette from the afternoon before, arching a brow as he studied the red-light above their head, "What about him?"

Kairi's lips curled into a coy smirk, taking a few moments to read through her phone messages, "I'm thinking about inviting him to the party this weekend. He's been pretty loyal to me, even as Namine's friend."

"You sure about that?" Riku questioned, arching a brow. He wasn't sure why he was interfering in Kairi's affairs, but for some reason, he wanted to stir up a little trouble for the sake of causing trouble.

"What do you mean?" Kairi set her phone down in her lap, studying her boyfriend's non-pulsed expression. When he didn't immediately respond she leaned forward, arching a brow in annoyance.

"Ran into him yesterday while he was hanging up those banners for the fashion show. He called you a cunt." Riku kept his eyes on the road, turning into the parking lot of the high school with a screech of his tires.

"Did he?" Kairi mused, narrowing her eyes, a look she got whenever she was beginning to conjure up a humiliating social-punishment, "Well, I think I'll invite him, anyway." Kairi gushed now, her tone coated in devious intentions.


	4. Chapter Three

**Axel**

Axel had been beneath the bleachers of the football field, enjoying a momentary respite when a brunette unintentionally stumbled into his spot. The male seemed ready to back-pedal, the color draining from his face the moment they made eye-contact. Admittedly, Axel was rather flattered that he posed that much of a threat to the male, but rather than feed on it, he extended his arm out to the brunette, joint in hand, "You look like you could use a hit." Axel exhaled smoke smoothly, his voice maintaining a soft rasp from the smoke that he'd been inhaling moments before.

The brunette didn't immediately move, as if the soles of his shoes had effectively melted into the concrete beneath them, "You look familiar." Axel tried again. It was a half-lie. The male did look familiar, but only because he knew who Sora was. Sora had been hanging around Kairi since she was a sophomore and Sora was still in middle school.

"I'm," Axel watched the brunette pause, his deep-blue eyes scanning the concrete before finding his thoughts, " _friends_ with Kairi." The brunette's voice rose towards the end of the statement, almost as if he was questioning his own relationship with her.

"Are you telling me or asking me?" The question was half-genuine, though half-way through he released he didn't actually care and rolling the wrist of his extended arm, "Don't be shy, it's rare that I share my joints with people." It was another lie, one to make even the most insecure feel important in his graces. After all, he was bred for acting engaging even during the dullest of social situations.

Sora looked between the joint and him as if one, or both, were irradiated. The red-head didn't mind, of course, watching the brunette accept the joint and take a puff. Axel tried not to laugh when the brunette immediately erupted into a coughing fit, indicating that Axel had essentially peer-pressured the kid into trying something new.

"What class you supposed in?" As he spoke, he accepted the joint and took another hit, studying the brunette out of the corner of his eye.

"English." Sora sighed as he answered, rubbing at the back of his neck, "You?"

Axel rolled his shoulders forward, "P.E. I should be running the mile right now." Axel snorted, then tilted his head, "Aside from Kairi, you also hang out with," Axel paused, as if collecting his own thoughts, "Namine, is it? Her brother's a junior, isn't he?"

Of course, he knew both of their names, having been promptly filled in by Riku and Kairi upon arrival. He had a vague sense of a timeline that involved Chicago and Southside Pinecrest, including their painfully impressive academic achievements that landed them in the school's lottery system. Though, it seemed, Roxas had a pension for getting himself in trouble. All of this information, of course, was stored away in Kairi's intricate filing system. How exactly the girl managed to have access to student's academic files, he didn't know. Aside from typical teenage-girl cattiness, it seemed Kairi only used them to find fleeting disciples to her adolescent, and entirely imaginary, kingdom.

 **Sora**

The brunette felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach, the same knot he got whenever Kairi was about to ask him to do some mind-numbing and irrational task. He was already feeling out of his element by skipping class, and now here he was, hiding beneath the bleachers with Axel Lancaster who was asking questions that Sora wasn't sure he should be answering.

"Ah, yeah, he's a junior, why?" Sora answered cautiously, accepting the joint that was once more handed to him. He felt partially light-headed, but he wasn't sure if that was from his anxiety or the marijuana. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he was teeter-tottering between ease and complete distress, he would've assumed the marijuana was canceled out by his overwhelming desire to flee.

"What's his deal?"

The question caught him off guard, he knew Riku had been giving Roxas a hard time since he transferred in, and if Axel had the same intentions, Sora certainly didn't want to be a part of that mess. And yet, Axel didn't seem all that interested in what Riku and the others did. Even back when Axel was a freshmen and sophomore, he seemed disconnected from all of the childish shit his friends pulled.

Instead, he was the impossibly _cool_ guy that everyone wanted to be around.

"There's not much I know about him, to be fair." Sora really didn't know much about Roxas. The blond looked meaner than a rattle snake, but yet, he seemed to be pretty patient with people and he'd seen the numerous times that he acted like a caring, if not over protective, older brother to Namine, "I'm pretty sure Riku knows more than I do, after all, he's had it out for the both of them since they transferred here."

 **Namine**

"Are you actually taking an art class?" Namine snorted as she entered the classroom, immediately spotting Hayner who seemed utterly lost as he busied himself with opening the art supplies they'd been instructed to purchase for class.

Hayner practically jumped at the sound of her voice, turning to look at her, "Uh, well, I need an easy elective, so…" The male gestured to the scattered art supplies that littered his desk and Namine had to laugh as she sat next to him.

"Well, colored me mildly offended that you think art classes are easy, but I suppose I can forgive it."

Hayner gave her a sheepish smile, his hand immediately coming up to rub at the back of his neck, "I didn't mean it like that, I mean, I suck at art, so I'm sure it won't be easy."

Namine shook her head, "You don't suck at art. Unless you're making a career out of it, no one sucks at art. "She smiled, reaching over onto Hayner's table to grab the erasers that were still in their packaging, removing the cellophane, "Plus, you have me as your guide into the art universe."

Hayner opened his mouth to respond to her encouragement, but was cut short when Olette walked into the classroom, "Have you seen Sora?" The brunette's brows were furrowed together in concern, casting an apologetic look to Hayner for interrupting his conversation with Namine.

"No, he wasn't in English this morning so I thought he was sick." Namine frowned, "Why, is something wrong?"

Olette sighed, plopping down in the chair next to Namine, shaking her head, "We got into a fight this morning and I bailed on him when I shouldn't have"

Namine could see that her friend was feeling guilty, but she didn't understand the depth of the problem. There was no doubt that Namine was quickly developing a strong friendship with both Olette and Sora, but she wasn't privy to their deepest secrets and thoughts. And if Namine were honest, she had a feeling there was more to uncover than she really wanted to know.

"Well, I'm sure Sora's going to be fine. If you want, I can text him?" Namine offered, pulling her phone out of her purse to pull up her text messages, ready on the 'go ahead'.

"No, don't worry about it. He's probably just blowing off steam and skipping class." Olette finished, redirecting the conversation by leaning forward in her seat so that she could look past Namine to Hayner, "Hey, you're Hayner, right? I think we had Algebra together during our freshman year."

Namine watched as Hayner gave Olette the once-over before a light-bulb went off in his head, "Ah, yeah, I remember you. You looked different back then."

Olette laughed, pushing her brunette hair back with her hand, "Yeah, I thought I wanted to be a Kairi clone, but now I've joined the dark-side." As if to make a point, Olette gestured over her mostly black ensemble with the corner of her mouth quirked upward in a grin, "Speaking of dark-side, you two going to the party on Saturday?"

 **Roxas**

"I can handle it." Was the agitated response from Axel who was in the middle of measuring out a tablespoon of baking soda as per instructions. Once measured out, the older male dumped the spoon's content onto a paper towel before following the paper's instructions on the proper folding technique.

"Well, I would certainly hope so, considering most third graders can do this." Roxas responded evenly, ignoring the glare that Axel was giving him.

While the red-head worked with the baking-soda, Roxas made an effort to make sure the zip-lock didn't have any holes in it as he filled it partially with water. Upon seeing that it wasn't leaking, he emptied the water out, "Is it a half a cup of vinegar and a fourth of a cup of water?" Roxas questioned, trying to look over Axel's shoulder to see the paper. Though, all he managed to do was grunt in annoyance at the red-head's height.

"I thought third-graders could do this." Axel taunted, a shit-eating grin on his face as he turned to look at Roxas. Out of reflexive thought, Roxas imagined the satisfaction that could be derived from decking the man square in his pretty-boy mouth. Luckily, his limbic system was high-functioning enough that the small conscious he had told him that it wouldn't be socially appropriate.

"Just give me the paper." Roxas finally replied, running thin on insulting commentary as he semi-shouldered Axel out of the way to look at the paperwork, returning to his work area to measure out the correct amount before emptying it out into the zip-lock bag.

As the teacher finished walking up and down the aisles, she returned to the front of the room, "Alright, since this experiment can get a little messy, we're going to move the last portion of the experiment outside in the parking lot."

Roxas rolled his eyes, sliding up his safety googles so that they were resting on the crown of his head. As the other students filed out of the classroom, he found himself reluctantly tagging along after Axel, trying to keep up with the older male's longer strides.

Once outside in the parking lot, the students broke up into pairs once more, "So you hold the time-release capsule and I'll seal the bag." As he instructed, Axel placed the neatly folded napkin inside of the zip-lock bag, but held it pinched between his thumb and index finger while Roxas zipped it shut, "bomb's away." The blonde, muttered, watching the red-head release the baking-soda filled capsule into the baggie. The red-head briefly shook the bag so that the household chemicals would react faster before he set the bag down on the ground.

Roxas folded his arms over his chest, watching as the bag expanded as a result of the chemical reaction between the baking soda, vinegar, and water. If he hadn't done the exact same experiment in elementary school, he might have been a little more amused at the result. Instead, he remained perfectly bored as the plastic bag continued to expand until finally bursting like a balloon.

"I haven't been this disappointed since learning Santa wasn't real." The response poured from Axel's mouth at the speed of molasses. There was brief silence before they made eye-contact and immediately broke out into a spurt of laughter. And if the joke wasn't enough to make him smile, the sound of Axel's laugh was, even if he wouldn't dare admit it.

* * *

Once they were back in the classroom they began cleaning up their lab station. As Roxas reached out to grab the bottle of vinegar, Axel did the same, the red-head's fingers unintentionally ghosting over Roxas' knuckles. As if Axel's skin were composed of sulfuric acid, Roxas quickly withdrew his hand and occupied himself with cleaning off their measuring utensils instead.

"Y'know, I know my friends have a bad reputation, but that doesn't mean I'm like them."

Roxas didn't look at the man at first, mulling over his words before finally giving him a contemplative gaze. Axel made it hard not to believe him. He spoke with an unnerving ease, no notable indication that he was full of shit. Well, minus a few factors. "You can't hang out with assholes and not be an asshole yourself." In contrast to Axel's smooth ability to articulate his thoughts, Roxas was abrasive and brazen. There was no time to skirt around brushes or pretend his tongue was sweeter than his bite, "Birds of a feather."

Of course, there was no falter in Axel's façade of cool, the corners of his mouth merely quirking up, "Touche."

"And I haven't exactly forgotten your endearing 'trailer trash' comment, either. So, why, Axel Lacanster, should I _not_ believe that you're another cookie-cutter GQ model look-alike with sociopathic tendencies as a result of too much money?" Roxas felt that he was pushing his luck with his smart-ass remarks.

"Same reason I don't immediately jump to the conclusion that you're another south-side fuck up whose future ends somewhere between a prison sentence and a crack-house." Axel countered.

Roxas felt his jaw tightening, molars grinding as he processed just as how thin his own-skin was. He thought about Hayner's warning to stay away from Axel, but Roxas felt that he could make his own judgements. His judgement being that he didn't like Axel at all. However, being civilized didn't mean that he had to like Axel. He could just as easily be friendly with him for the sake of his chemistry grade and nothing else.

"So, what do you say to a start over?" Axel interrupted his train of thoughts, hand extending outwards towards him.

Like most of Roxas' decision, his answer came in impulse, "Sure, I'll play along." The blond mumbled, extending his own hand to shake Axel's, "Roxas Kaufmann"

"Axel Lancaster." There was another grin on Axel's face as his cat-like eyes bore into Roxas' own vivid blues.

 **Sora**

He'd been absent most of the day, actively ignoring Olette's concerned text messages and only spending fleeting seconds with Namine, as if to reassure everyone that he hadn't jumped ship. By the time lunch rolled around, though, he felt his anger from this morning dissipate, replaced with exhaustion and a strong desire for comradery.

"Sora, why don't you sit with us?"

The brunette had strode by Kairi's table, barely acknowledging the mixture of seniors and juniors, intending to make a beeline for Namine and Olette. Still, the commanding voice had him halting in place and turning to look at the red-head. Kairi had a playful smile on her face, one that made the acid in his stomach creep up his esophagus. Still, he smiled, "Are you sure? I don't want to impose."

"Of course!"

Kairi insisted, scooting away from Riku and patting the space between them. Not wanting to look any dumber than he felt, Sora forced his feet forward. When he sat down, he found himself feeling incredibly small. Out of his peripheral vision, he was sure that RIku was giving him a look, but he didn't dare turn his head to check. He was pretty sure the man hated him, solidified by the shut-down he'd experienced yesterday with the posters.

He sucked air in through his teeth, heart-hammering in his chest as the adrenaline coursed through him. He felt like a rabbit who'd just waltzed into a wolf's den, but he tried to maintain some composure on the outside.

"Hey, I just wanted to thank you for putting up those posters! I know I've been kind of harsh lately, but I hope that you can forgive me." Kairi tilted her head, a half-pout on her face to emphasize just how sorry she was.

"Uh, no worries, I didn't mind." Sora lied through his teeth, meeting Kairi's gaze with some ease. Normally, he was able to navigate social situations with relative ease. In fact, in any other scenario in which he didn't feel like he was about to be pulled into the seventh-layer of hell, he thrived off of attention and spotlight. He had the uncanny ability to be bold with just the right of innocuous naivety that let his less than sugar-and-honey tongue go undetected.

"I'm so glad to hear it." Kairi let out a sigh of relief. She then leaned toward him, the unmistakable scent of her Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb perfume infiltrating his nose, "So, Riku and I were thinking you should totally come to this party that I'm throwing Saturday." Kairi's glossed lips curled into a come-hither smile before she looked over his shoulder to where Riku sat, mid-bite of a sandwich, "Isn't that right?"

For the first time since he sat down, Sora dared himself to look up at Riku, who was already looking at him, much to Sora's own embarrassment. He felt the heat rising to his face, and if he wasn't so nervous, he would've sworn he saw an amused smile grace the male's lips, "Yeah, you should."

Red-flags should have been sprouting up all over Sora's understanding of the universe, but they weren't. He was either borderline delirious or pathetically caught up in the dream-state of being included in the more 'popular' crowd. After an awkward pause, he smiled, "Uh, yeah, sure. I'd love to."


	5. Chapter Four

_"Lay all your laundry on the bed_  
 _And then I'll lay in it instead_  
 _I like us better when we're wasted"_

 **Olette**

"If you don't hold still, I'm going to end up burning you." Olette sighed, once again re-positioning Namine's head with an eye-roll. She ran the hair straightener through the blond's hair a few times more before finally setting the device aside. In the mirror, Olette watched as Namine winced, "Stop acting like I'm killing you!" Olette choked out a laugh at her friend's dramatics.

"You keep pulling my hair!" Namine protested, gasping in mock outrage when Olette actually pulled her hair this time.

"That's pulling your hair. Now, hold still!" The blonde let out a soft whine, jutting out her bottom lip in a pout before letting Olette get back to work. With a comb in hand, she gently teased the hair to give it body, but not to an outrageous degree.

"Alright, face me." Olette commanded, watching Namine hesitantly turn in the chair to face her. Olette scanned over Namine's face, analyzing all of the girl's features before opening her makeup bag and setting a variety of makeup tools onto the vanity.

"I feel like you're about to perform surgery on my face." Namine commented idly, picking up an eye-shadow palette and looking over the colors.

Olette merely shook her head before tilting Namine's face upward so that she could apply eye-shadow, using the palette that Namine had been looking at to create a smoky-eyed look. She then applied eye-liner, occasionally sighing anytime the blonde flinched under the utensil. When she was finished, she gently blew on Namine's face, clearing off any excess eye-shadow before applying mascara to the girl's lashes. When her eyes where finished, she applied a red lip-stick on to Namine's lips, pausing briefly to admire the shape of the girl's lips. Eventually, she broke her trance and finished putting the makeup away, allowing Namine to look at herself in the mirror.

"I look like a hooker." Namine glanced up at her friend, looking more than a little uncomfortable.

"No, you look like you just stepped off the cover of a Rolling Stone magazine. So, hot." Olette giggled, waving a hand to emphasize her point while handing Namine a dress that belonged to her, but would look better on Namine.

Namine held the dress up, her face scrunching up into a look of uncertainty. While Namine definitely wasn't a prude, she was certainly conservative when it came to her fashion sense, "Isn't this a little short?"

"That's the point! Parties are where you get to be someone you're not. By day you're this modest and humble girl, but by night? You're the mysterious femme-fatal and, I, your marvelous side-kick and sex icon." Olette feigned a Vogue pose, batting her eye-lashes in dramatic fashion as if to prove her point. All of which resulted in Namine laughing at her.

With the proper coaxing, Namine was finally dressed in the black halter dress that stopped mid-thigh with thin straps that criss-crossed over Namine's sternum and were studded with spikes. Olette had to zip it up for her, brushing the hair away from the back of Namine's neck as she did. With the dress zipped up, Olette fixed the girl's hair before removing her favorite crown-necklace from around her neck and instead putting it around Namine's.

"Isn't this your good luck charm, what if I lose it?" Anxiety was evident in Namine's voice as she reached up to touch the charm, as if making sure it was still there and hadn't already gotten lost.

"Well, then don't lose it." Olette smiled, handing Namine a pair of black pumps before Olette turned away to finish getting ready herself.

When she was finished styling her own hair, she turned back to look at Namine, breath momentarily catching in her throat. She felt a fluttering feeling in her stomach, almost as if she was on a roller-coaster. Her heart felt as if it was hammering in her chest, but she couldn't place why. As the heat was beginning to rise in her cheeks, Namine was giving her a concerned look.

"What? Do I look weird?" The blond crossed her arms over her chest, as if in a vague attempt to cover up her insecurites about the outfit.

Olette managed a smile, shaking her head, "No, you look fantastic. Come on, we should leave before my parents get home and see us dressed like this." Olette laughed, grabbing Namine by the wrist and leading her out of her bedroom.

 **Roxas**

As soon as Hayner turned down the street, Roxas felt an overwhelming desire to jump out of the car. The street was tightly packed with luxury cars and each house seemed nearly identical right down to their perfectly manicured lawns. He could hear the unmistakable pounding of a speaker's bass, or several, as the case may be.

"You didn't tell me it was north-side." Roxas gave Hayner an accusatory look as the male found a parking spot.

As they climbed out of the car, Hayner snorted, "You didn't ask, so I didn't tell."

Roxas rolled his eyes, scanning over the street with the sort of intensity that a soldier might have when observing enemy territory. Their intended destination was a large light-gray house, promptly marked by the heavily intoxicated teenagers who were meandering on the front-porch.

It was then that Roxas realized he stuck out like sore thumb, suddenly hyperaware of the paper-thinness of his worn out Ramones t-shirt and the holes in his black jeans that came from wear-and-tear. The only expensive thing he was wearing was his timberland boots, and even those were weather-worn. Roxas sighed, adjusting the black-beanie on his head as he followed after Hayner.

As Roxas filtered pass the cluster of bodies on the porch, he walked through the door with Hayner, pausing briefly to look at the chandelier above head. The magnificant piece of decor constrated sharply with the less-than-holy teeangers who grinded against each other while sucking down mixed-drinks as if it were a juicebox. The glass-crystals shook in tandem with the beat of the deafening music and Roxas briefly wished the chandelier would come crashing down on top of him, effectively turning his spine into an accordion.

As if Hayner was capable of reading his body-language, the male was quick to get them both a drink. Almost instantly, Roxas remembered why he liked north-side parties. Rich parents meant expensive alcohol cabinets, a signficant difference from the alcohol that he was used to. Roxas found himself pounding down shots, trying to regain some sense of unity in the mesh of overly expensive bodies that crowded the space.

"Hey, isn't that your sister?" Hayner suddenly leaned toward him, yelling over the music as he gestured across the room to where two girls were dancing.

At the mention of his sister, Roxas' head snapped to attention and he followed Hayner's line of sight. True to his word, Namine was dancing with her friend Olette. Judging by how self-assured Namine was, Roxas had the sinking suspicion that the girl was drunk. With a sigh of frustration, Roxas abandoned his post next to Hayner to approach his sister.

"Namine?" Roxas called out over the music, repeating himself twice before the girl finally heard him over the music. Almost instantly the girl's face fell, her eyes widening at the realization she'd been caught. Roxas gave Olette an accusing look, knowing the older girl was most likely the one to coax his sister into not only coming to the party, but dressing the way she was, "I thought you told mom you were staying over Olette's?"

"I am, technically." Namine argued, suddenly rediscovering her confidence. The girl folded her arms over her chest, weight shifting to the right-side of her stance so that her hip stuck out, "And aren't you supposed to be at home? If I remember correctly, you're still grounded."

Roxas shook his head, "We're going home."

Before Roxas could drag his sister out of the party, Hayner interrupted them, "Look, she's already here, you might as well deal with the fact that your sister's going to party."

"Yeah, lighten up, Roxas." Namine scowled, grabbing Olette by the hand and leading her friend away, not even acknowledging Roxas when the man tried to call for her.

 **Kairi**

"Isn't that Namine?"

Kairi had been in the middle of chatting up one of Riku's teammates, a coy smile on her face as she flirted unabashedly. When Larxene interrupted the conversation, Kairi smiled apologetically to the boy whose name she couldn't remember before turning to give Larxene her attention. At the mention of Namine, Kairi found herself glancing around the room.

As soon as she spotted the two girls from across the room, she felt an unbridled rage bubble beneath her cool exterior. Even though Namine was only a sophomore, it seemed that people gravitated toward her. She was altruistic and several degrees of modest and humble. It didn't matter that she was some poor cretin that had climbed out of some sewer because she was _nice_. Which was why she had Riku flirt with her, to expose her as a man-eating harlot so that Kairi herself could play the innocent victim. Unfortunately, her plot had blown up in her face. No causalities suffered minus her own bruised ego. Though, unbeknownst to Axel and Namine, Riku and she had an idea as to who had destroyed his car. It would make sense, seeing as the vandalism occurred only a week after the misfired date that left Namine momentarily humiliated. However, it was card they were keeping tucked under their sleeves.

Kairi smiled now, twisting her index finger in her hair to rejuvenate the curls before walking over to where the pair stood. Half-way over to them, Kairi stopped to swipe a cup off of one of the nearby tables, not bothering to look the unidentifiable alcohol as she approached the two. With a smile, her eyes bounced between the two friends, "That dress looks really good on you, Namine."

The blond smiled sheepishly, her discomfort over the interaction evident by the way Namine folded her arms over her chest. On the other hand, Olette seemed on the defensive, glaring at her with enough intensity to melt ice. Despite this, Kairi maintained her smile, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "Listen, I know that I've been kind of mean to you, but I'm actually really glad that you came. How about we call it a truce?"

As the words left her mouth, Kairi extended an arm out to the girl, drink in hand. Namine hesitated and rightfully so. As soon as the blond went to accept the drink, Kairi withdrew her hand the slightest bit before pouring the drink over Namine's head, a horrified gasp escaping the blond's mouth.

" _Oops_." Kairi grinned, walking off with Larxene who was snickering beside her. She ignored whatever Olette was yelling at her, and turning to Larxene, "We should go find Sora now."

 **Roxas**

Roxas was trying to push past a cluster of guys from the lacrosse team who were being far too aggressive for the small area they were occupying, but Roxas didn't pay it any attention until he'd been accidentally shoved. The result was a minor-chain reaction in which he accidentally pushed some girl in front of him. Luckily, no one had fallen and there was a rushed half-assed apology from the lacrosse player. The girl, however, turned to look at him, pointing at her heels with a hot-pink finger nail, "You almost stepped on my Giuseppe Zanotti's!"

"I'm sorry, is that a shoe-designer or the sound someone makes when they sneeze?" Roxas furrowed his brows together, far too intoxicated to realize his sarcasm was misplaced in this scenario. The girl gasped, though Roxas wasn't sure if she was insulted by his commentary or insulted that he didn't know who designed her shoes. Her apparent horror was so strong that she looked behind her to the male she'd been talking to, as if looking for back-up or confirmation. As Roxas looked behind the girl, he saw none other than Axel who was caught somewhere between a face-splitting smile and full out laughter.

Upon seeing that Axel was basically laughing at her, the girl looked between the two males before stomping away angrily. Axel, who was now fully cracking up, shook his head, "We've gotta stop meeting like this."

Axel was probably as equally intoxicated as he was, making it all the more amusing that he seemed so relaxed. Up until now, Roxas had perceived the red-head to be very stone-faced and rigid, but here was, laughing at something Roxas had said two minutes ago. It wasn't the same chuckle that Axel gave to people in the hallways or in the classroom, it was _real_. It was almost as if he was looking at a whole different person.

"Wanna get some fresh-air with me?" Axel questioned, seemingly gathering enough composure to ask. Before Roxas could comprehend the question or make a decision, Axel was leading him outside and into the backyard. Outside, Roxas was greeted with the crisp summer air, a relief form the mixing of booze and sweat in the house. As Roxas scanned over the backyard, he wasn't surprised to see an in-ground pool which was currently occupied with teenagers who were probably a drowning hazard. Everything felt larger than life and it was almost nauseating, but he ignored his desire to flee from another place he didn't belong by sitting next to Axel on the porch steps.

As his stomach settled, Roxas watched Axel light up a joint and put it between his lips, and for a moment, the two sat in agonizing silence while watching a drunken game of marco-polo. "Can I ask you a question?" Roxas' asked suddenly, his voice sounding strangely foreign to him. Which he assumed was because he'd been rehearsing the question in his head for the last five minutes, trying to determine if asking it would be wise.

"Shoot." Was Axel's reply, releasing a stream of smoke through his flaring nostrils.

"Who the fuck tattoos their face?" Admittedly, Roxas had imagined the question being formatted in a slightly different way.

Axel studied him for a moment, exhaling another stream of smoke only this time the marijuana cloud was directed at Roxas, "Has anyone ever told you that you have the social graces of a fish out of water?" As if to indicate that he didn't mean any real ill-will, the red-head offered his joint to Roxas, "Riku and I got fucked-up one night, ended up letting his older brother perform an 'at-home' tattoo, and the rest is history. _Thankfully_ , they're not too big so they're easy to conceal. "

"They have, and that story easily makes the top ten of 'Weird Shit I've Heard This Week'." Roxas snickered, looking over the upside down triangles on the man's cheekbones. As he took a hit of the joint, he watched as one of the girl's in the pool had her bikini top pulled off, a squeal escaping her lips, "So, why'd you leave St. Jude's in the first place?"

"My god, you really don't have a filter do you?" Axel was laughing now, a musical laugh that had Roxas shivering without a breeze, "I don't think that's any of your business. All you need to know is that I did some shit and had to leave, but now I'm back." Axel shrugged, leaning back against the stairs.

"How long have you and Riku been friends?" Roxas didn't really care to know the answer, he just wanted to hear Axel talk. In fact, in his drunk stupor, he was sure ultimate satisfaction could be found in having his red-headed acquaintance talk him into a coma.

"Long enough for people to be afraid of me as much as they are of him." Axel answered with a shrug.

"People aren't afraid of you." Roxas started, looking over his shoulder to get a better look at the red-head's face, "People are intimidated by you. They either want to be you or they want to get fucked by you."

Roxas wanted to swallow his tongue the moment the words left his mouth. Axel leaned forward now, and with Roxas' face still turned toward him, their faces were close enough that Roxas could smell the alcohol on the man's breath. Roxas told himself that he could just as easily pull away, but his competitive nature told him that he couldn't be the first to look away. Admitting embarrassment would be a fate worse than death.

Axel had a self-assured look on his face now, confidence oozing from his pores. There was a smirk on his face, but not his normal shit-eating one. No, it was akin to the type of predatory look a cat gives a mouse before tossing said mouse in the air and snapping it's spine between sharpened canines, "Oh, yeah? Then what category does that put you in?"

And by the grace of the God's, Roxas phone buzzed with a new text message. The blond moved away from Axel, pulling his phone out to look at the message displayed on his screen.

"Convenient." Axel half-teased, taking the last drag on the joint before flicking it onto the cement walkway. As soon as the words left his mouth, his phone went off as well, "And now spooky." Axel snorted, taking out his own phone.

What shortly followed was a muffled orchestra of cell-phones going off at the same time.

"Fuck." Axel cursed, furrowing his brows together.

"I have to find Namine." Roxas commented hastily, rising to his feet and leaving Axel to stare at his cell-phone in stunned silence.

 **Riku**

He'd been pushing his way through the crowds of teenagers for what felt like an eternity, unable to locate his girlfriend, or even Sora, as it were. As he gave up on the main floor of the house, he moved upstairs to start looking through the rooms. Aside from stumbling upon the occasional meshing of adolescent bodies, he found no one of great value until he opened one of the bathroom doors, finding a tearful Namine getting cleaned up by a furious Olette.

"Have either of you seen Kairi or Sora?" Riku doubted their willingness to cooperate with him, but he was running out of time and resources.

"Get the fuck out, asshole!" The blond reached for the wet-rag that Olette had been cleaning her with, ready to throw it at him but stopped by Olette.

"We haven't seen your bitch of a girlfriend since she poured a drink on Namine." Olette spat, hostility lacing her voice as she folded her arms over her chest, "And _if_ Sora's at this party, I haven't see him all night." Was the brunette's curt response, returning to help Namine dry her hair with one of the towels that decorated the bathroom.

Riku frowned, finding the conversation to be useless as he closed the door and continued searching.

 **Olette**

"I should have let you hit him with the towel." Olette fumed, looking at Namine who laughed in agreement.

Olette watched as Namine slide off the counter top she'd been sitting on, tears still staining her face as she tried to clean up her makeup in the mirror. Olette frowned, tucking her hair behind her eyes, "Did Sora say he would be at this party?"

Namine shook her hair out with the towel, knitting her brows together in thought, "No, I don't think so."

Olette opened her purse to pull out her cell-phone, getting ready to send Sora a text message when a message from an unknown number flashed across the screen of her phone. As she unlocked the screen and began reading the text, she gasped, dropping her purse to the floor where its miscellaneous contents fell to the floor in a clatter. Almost instantaneously, Namine's phone went off in her purse.

 **Sora**

He'd been at the party only for a short amount of time before Kairi had invited him to her bedroom, a bottle of Grey Goose in hand. He couldn't fathom why the girl would abandon her own party, not only failing as a hostess but leaving her household to the clutches of overly rambunctious teenagers. However, any suspicions were tarnished by his fourth shot.

"Where's your bathroom?" His speech was slightly slurred, vision swimming as he tried to make sense of his environment.

Kairi glanced up from her lap-top, a sickeningly sweet smile planted on her face. She gave a look to Larxene that went mostly unreadable to Sora, "Down the stairs and to the right. Can't miss it."

Sora nodded, stepping outside into the attic stair-well where Kairi's room had been located. As he descended the stairs with a surprising amount of grace, he was greeted with the muffled sound of music that was still coming from the first floor. Stepping out into the hallway, he nearly crashed into Riku who seemed to be on a semi-frantic search for _something_.

"Holy fuck, I've been looking for you all night." Riku sounded alarmed which Sora found surprising given the older male's hot-headed temperament and 'fuck off' demeanor.

"Uhm, what?" Sora questioned dumbly, folding his arms over his chest. He couldn't fathom what the man wanted from him, but the numerous ideas had his head-swimming.

"The other day, when you called Kairi a cunt, I might have," Riku trailed off, rubbing at the back of his neck. The mere sight of Riku's display of awkwardness made Sora want to laugh in his face, but he didn't, concern bubbling in his abdomen as he waited to hear what Riku had to say "told Kairi what you said."

Sora felt something lurch in his stomach, a knotting of nerve endings that worked to increase the salivation in his mouth. He wanted to puke, to run, to flee; to do anything but be standing here in Kairi's house, "You did _what_?"

Just as Sora was about to verbally tear into the older man, his cell-phone buzzed with a text message. The brunette brushed his hair back, yanking his phone out of his back pocket to read the message. As he opened his text messages he saw that one was sent from an 'unknown' number, opening the message he slowly scanned over the words;

 _ **"Rumor has it that Sora Chesterfield didn't spend his summer in Tuscany with his parents, but rather with a mysterious older man. Don't believe me? Here are the pictures to prove it. – X**_

 _ **p.s. Buckle up, St. Jude, you're in for a helluva' year. I've got the dirt on all of you and I'm exposing you for the frauds you are. "**_

What followed were several pictures of Sora and the older man in question, Luxord, who he'd had a summer fling with despite more than decade separating them. Sora recognized all the pictures, having been the one to take them with his cell phone during a romantic randevú. Now, it seemed, that someone else had access to them. All of which made Sora's heart race. While the brunette worked to process what was happening, Sora heard Riku's phone go off, and without even looking up, he knew that Riku was looking at the same thing he was. In fact, he was sure _all_ of his classmates were looking at what he was seeing.

He was on the verge of tears, his ears ringing as the heat rose to his face. His breathing became more erratic as he became overwhelmed with the thought that everyone knew about him not only being gay, but having spent a summer with a man that was far older than him. All of which could lead to the school not only getting involved, but his parents as well, specifically his father. He felt himself rapidly becoming disconnected with his surroundings, not even registering the fact that Riku was trying to talk to him.

Then, without warning, he threw up unto the hard-wood floors.

 **Author's Note:** Thanks for the reads/reviews/favs/follows!


	6. Chapter Five

**Axel**

The party had cleared out shortly after the event, mostly due to the resulting fight that broke out between Olette and Kairi. It'd been a whirlwind of cat-claws, screeching, and pulled-out hair extensions ended only by Roxas who'd been brave, and downright _insane_ , enough to pull Olette out of the fight. With help from Riku, Axel kicked the rest of the party-goers out and now it was just the four of them, gathered around the kitchen table inside of Kairi's house.

"What the _fuck_ Kairi?" Riku was the first to break the silence from his seat next to Axel, holding a frozen bag of peas to the left side of his face where Hayner had decked him. Axel had assumed the two had gotten into a confrontation when Hayner was trying to escort Sora out of the house.

Kairi, who'd been in the middle of trimming her now broken nails, gaped at her boyfriend, " _You_ think _I_ did _that_?"

"Oh, please, you two have been planning to get back at Sora all week, remember?"Riku countered, momentarily setting the bag of frozen peas onto the table. With the makeshift ice-pack removed it was all the more clear that Riku's eye was swelled shut and beginning to bruise. Not that it surprised Axel, Hayner knew how to throw down when needed.

"Get back at him for what?" Axel frowned now, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked among the trio.

"Apparently, Sora called Kairi a cunt." Larxene spoke up, swirling the contents of her red-solo cup before taking another drink. She then looked at Riku, "And that wasn't our plan, Riku. Kairi and I were _just_ going to get him a little drunk and embarrass him at the party."

"And why didn't anyone bother to clue me in on the master plan?" Axel gestured with a flick of his wrist. He was losing his patience with his friends. Whether the stunt was Kairi's plan or not, it didn't change the fact that it put a bulls-eye on their backs.

"Oh, please, Axel. You might have returned, but you're still last season. We don't take orders from irrelevant _coke-heads_." Kairi smiled now, as if challenging Axel's authority.

Axel released a hallowed and humorless laugh from the back of his throat. Mockingly, he furrowed his eye brows together in thought, "Did you ever think that people call you a cunt because you are a cunt?" Axel punctuated the word 'cunt' as if he was twisting the verbal dagger into the girl's back.

"Enough!" Riku yelled this time, shaking his head. Surprisingly, Riku didn't come to the defense of Kairi as he was prone to do, but instead glowered at both of them as an indication to 'cool it' before looking at his cell phone, "If it wasn't you two, then who did it?"

Axel sighed, unlocking his own cell phone to look over the text message again. As he did, Axel realized it was difficult to make out who the other male was in the pictures with Sora. It was obvious that he was older than Sora, but his face was mostly obscured or out of frame. Aside from blond hair and an unshaven face, there weren't any distinguishable features. Though, given that the text message suggested the pair met in Italy, Axel doubted he would have been able to recognize the man even if he were distinguishable.

"Kairi, you're the only one that I know of, aside from administration, who has access to everyone's school file. You could have easily gotten their cell-phone records from that." Axel challenged.

"Well, not exactly," Kairi paused, tucking her hair behind her ears as she avoided eye-contact with the other three, "Someone broke into my gym-locker last week and stole all of the files out of my purse. I thought it was Larxene-"

Larxene gave her best friend an appalled look, mouth agape in disgust, "Are you the one who tossed all of my gym clothes into the swimming pool? I had to watch the _boy's_ swim coach fish my sports bra out of the pool!" The blond leaned forward in her seat, her voice raising an octave.

"So whoever stole the files is probably the one who sent the text message." Riku interrupted hastily, cutting into the tension that was building between the two females, "But how would they have gotten those pictures of Sora?"

Larxene gritted her teeth, giving Kairi a heated expression before leaning back in her chair and focusing on Riku, "They look like selfies, yeah? So whoever this 'X' person is could have stolen the photos from Sora, right? I mean, this person has to be someone we all know. Maybe it's one of Sora's friends."

"Which would be plausible if this person wasn't putting a target on everyone's back. I mean, Sora doesn't exactly scream primary target for a revenege plot." Axel arched a brow, recalling the brunette's timid nature when they ran into each other under the bleachers.

"Maybe it was just a matter of convenience. Larxene and I weren't exactly quiet about our revenge scheme." Kairi offered softly, her hostility levels depleting, "I mean, maybe this person is just full of shit and wanted to frame me at Sora's expense. It wouldn't be the first shady and under-handed thing we've seen at school."

"And even if this 'X' person really was going to target other students, what dirt could they possibly have on us?" Larxene questioned.

For a moment, everyone was resigned to silent contemplation. The silence was spent in a round-table exchange of glances before all eyes eventually landed back on Axel.

"We're so fucked." Axel exhaled through gritted teeth.

 **Roxas**

After the party, the group found themselves huddled into a booth at the back of a twenty-four hour dinner. No one seemed to be sober enough to effectively navigate home, nor was everyone mentally stable enough to return home. Thus, Hayner suggested they stop for a late night breakfast to sober them up.

"Well, this was fun." Roxas murmured, earning himself a swift elbow jab in the ribcage by his sister. He scowled in response, pulling the black beanie off his head.

Sora was still somewhere between another mental break down and wiping tears away, much to the dismay of Roxas and Hayner who lacked the emotional capacity to deal with sobbing males, or sobbing anything, really. Namine massaged comforting circles into Sora's back, trying to keep him under control least they get kicked out of the dinner. Olette had disappeared in the bathroom, presumably to clean herself up after the fight that had broken out between herself and Kairi.

With everyone in various states of disarray, it was no surprise that the waitress approached their table with the sort of knowing look that older people give adolescents when reliving their own glory days, "What can I get for you kids?"

"Just coffee and water for now." Roxas spoke for the group, smiling as politely as he could manage despite his pounding headache.

"I want hot chocolate." Sora spoke suddenly, lifting his head with a sorrowful pout.

Roxas felt a bubble of laughter climb up his throat. Not only was the brunette a complete light-weight, but there was also something endearing about the desperate plead for hot-chocolate, "And a hot chocolate." Roxas agreed, nodding his head at the waitress.

When the waitress disappeared, Roxas arched a brow at Sora, "Feeling better?"

Sora sighed, rubbing at his temples with closed eyes, "How can I feel better? My life is ruined. I mean if my dad finds out—"There was a strangled sob that escaped Sora's lips, his shoulders trembling with the force.

"You'll be fine, Sora." Olette spoke softly as she slid into the seat across from Sora. Olette had been treading carefully every time she spoke with Sora and it made Roxas wonder what pieces he was missing in the jigsaw of their friendship. He got the feeling that Namine was just as out of the loop as if he was, judging by the way her brows furrowed together.

"Think he'll kick you out?" Hayner spoke now, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't know." Sora breathed shakily, raking fingers through his hair, "I just—god, why the fuck would she out me like that?"

"Uh, she's a bitch." Olette answered, shrugging her shoulders, "But she's not going to fuck with you anymore, okay?" Olette smiled now, trying to reassure her friend.

"Yeah, otherwise Olette will scratch her eyes out." Roxas snorted, earning a round of laughter from the group.

"You'll be fine, man." Hayner confirmed, "If anyone messes with you at school, we've got your back."

Up until now Roxas had never given Sora a second thought, chalking the kid up to one of Namine's friends he didn't mess with. Yet, he felt himself agreeing with Hayner, and not just for boost, but because he actually cared about the brunette's well-being. Olette's too, not that the girl seemed to need it.

* * *

 **Sora**

He'd spent all of Saturday morning locked up in his room, ignoring social media and text messages as he busied himself with his studies for school. As he pulled his head-phones off his head, he heard knocking at his bedroom door. They were soft, gentle knocks, indicating it was probably the maid that came once a week.

Sora got off his bed, tossing his history book on the bed as he opened the door, "Yeah?"

"There's a young man at the door for you. He said his name is Riku." The maid smiled fondly at him, "He is _very_ cute." The maid, Josephine, was the first person to learn that he was gay when she'd accidentally uncovered an inappropriate magazine hidden beneath his mattress. Safe to say, it was the last time he had the maid clean his room. Unfortunately, the woman made a habit of assuming any remotely attractive man that came to see him was a boyfriend, and since not many men made it a habit to visit him, her enthusiasm was unbridled.

"He is _not_ cute. He is a spawn of Satan, tell him to leave." Sora half-hissed.

Almost in mock, the maid crossed herself as if she was in church, "I invited him into the foyer." The maid responded, seemingly not picking up on his distress.

Sora groaned, raking fingers through his hair. He couldn't fathom why the man would be at his house. From what Sora could remember, the football player had made an attempt to warn him of his impending doom, but that didn't make him any less of an asshole. Still, his curiosity got the best of him as he pushed past the maid, descending down the stairs.

True to her word, Riku was standing in the foyer with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his sleet-gray walking coat. He was scanning the family photos on the wall, a strange, uncharacteristic smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Sora questioned, stopping a few steps short of the landing, arms crossed protectively over his torso as he waited for the man to answer.

When Riku fully acknowledge him, Sora involuntarily flinched at the black-eye that adorned the man's face. Up until then, he'd forgotten that Hayner had punched Riku during the party. Everything had happened so quickly, that Hayner had falsely assumed that Riku had been harassing him. Thus, ensued a brief scuffle between the two men.

"I—" Riku started, eye-brows drawing together in confusion, as if he himself didn't know what he was doing here, "I wanted to make sure that you were okay, I guess." Riku spoke with the same bashfulness he had from the party. It was strange to hear the man sound so awkward, but Sora chalked it up to Riku purposefully messing with him.

"Yeah, I'm dandy. Your girlfriend just publicly outed me because I called her a cunt. " Sora strode down the last few steps, "Which she would have never of known about if you hadn't told her. So I guess, really, I have you to thank for the complete annihilation of my social life." Sora's tone was biting, catching even the brunette off guard.

"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic? No one really cares if you're _gay_." The word 'gay' fell from Riku's lips in a strangled fashion, as if the very word was diseased and capable of spreading to anyone who dared to utter it.

"Dramatic? You must really live in a bubble of fucking privilege. Not only do I have to face homophobic assholes like you at school, but if my father finds out—!" The brunette cut himself short, anxiety running high and causing his voice to crack with unshed tears. Truth was, he didn't really care about what his peers thought. He could spend an eternity getting his ass beat by roid-monkeys and it still wouldn't compare to the fear he had about his father finding out. Aside from his father being an abusive drunk, the man was homophobic to the core. To the point that he'd ostracized his own sister for being a lesbian. The mere thought of what the man would do upon discovering Sora's sexuality made the brunette queasy.

"Just leave, Riku." Sora finished, striding past Riku and opening the front door, "And stay away from me."

 **Roxas**

The blonde had spent the majority of his hang-over picking up trash around the park as required by his court-ordered community service. Even with a handkerchief to muffle the foul stench of discarded waste that was allowed to rot in the sun, he could still smell the awful funk. It served to expedite the pounding in his head and made him went to wretch. By the time they were allowed to break for lunch, Roxas had entirely lost his appetite. Instead, he sat on top of the nearby picnic table, chugging water and shielding his eyes from the sun.

"You're Roxas Kaufmann, right?" The voice came from a lavender haired male that had inhuman perfection nailed despite the summer heat and the stench of garbage that permitted the air. Roxas would have found it infuriating if he wasn't busy trying to asses where the man knew him from. Then, sudden realization.

"You're Zexion, right?" Roxas squinted at the familiar man. Zexion was a senior at St. Jude's who was as intelligent as he was handsome. The male not only involved himself in the student government, but he was on debate and participated in the annual 'Factoring Bee'. To top it off, the man was deeply involved with various environmental activism groups. Thus, it didn't surprise Roxas that the man would be picking up trash with a smile on his face.

"So you do remember me?" Zexion smiled, taking a seat on the picnic bench, "I'm guessing this is part of your community service?"

Roxas squinted at Zexion through his headache, "How'd you know that?"

"Guess you didn't get the text." Zexion hummed, removing his cell-phone from his back pocket and moving to sit on the table-top alongside Roxas. As the male unlocked his cell-phone he let Roxas read the text message.

 **"Some might call it community service, but I like to call it a glimpse into the future. – X"**

Attached to the text message was a picture of Roxas picking up trash, much to the blonde's annoyance. Roxas didn't have time for petty games, but someone essentially stalking him to make a point was a little more than disturbing.

"Doesn't exactly have the same volatility as their last one, does it?" Roxas mumbled, pulling out his own cell-phone, "Dead battery. Guess that explains that." Roxas hummed, rolling his eyes.

"Everyone think its Kairi, but her posse's adamantly denying it." Zexion shook his head, "Talk about a public-relations scandal gone horribly wrong. "

"Yeah, well, whoever this 'X' person is, they're bound to get theirs eventually." Roxas rolled his shoulders, taking another swig of his water.

 **Namine**

"Why exactly did you call us here?" Sora asked, exhaustion evident in his tone.

Olette and Sora found themselves sitting on Namine's bed, watching the blond pull up her school e-mail. They'd been summoned under the pretense that it was an 'emergency' but Namine was beginning to think the façade was failing. When she found her intended e-mail, she pushed her computer-chair off to the side so that she could gesture to her computer, "Kairi does the fashion show every year, right?" Namine looked at her comrades, waiting for a confirmation that she already knew the answer to.

"Yeah, it's always the week first week of November, why?"

"So, Olette has access to the stage from drama club, right? I have access to the acrylic paints in the art room, and Sora, you know Kairi's fashion routine, right? So we go Stephen King's _Carrie_ on her ass, minus the pig's blood." Namine added, shuddering at the thought of harming an innocent pig.

The two brunette's exchanged glances, "Don't you think Kairi will get a little suspicious that we're at the fashion show?" Olette spoke, leaning forward, her eyebrow arched to suggest her interest was piqued.

"Which is exactly why we enter the fashion show ourselves. I could sew the outfits, Olette could do makeup, and Sora would take credit as the designer."

"I'm trying to get myself back in the closet, not roll myself in glitter and rainbow body paint." Sora responded, frowning at prospect of falling under the ''gay-fashion-designer' stereotype.

"No, It's a brilliant idea. We would not only blow the competition out of the water, but we would absolutely ruin Kairi's moment in the spotlight. " Olette countered, enthusiasm dripping from her words as she smiled at Sora, "We could really stick it to the bitch."

"I don't know, guys, do we really want to stoop to her level?" Sora frowned at his two friends, uncertain if responding to a revenge plot with another revenge plot was the right thing to do.

"She deserves it, Sora. I mean, come on." Olette egged him on, jutting out her bottom lip in a pout.

"It could be fun!" Namine sang-song, getting off her chair to join the other two on her body, "Imagine it, all of Kairi's models have finished walking on stage. Then, Kairi comes to show herself off as the designer. Just as she gets to the end of the cat-walk, boom!" Namine used her hands to illustrate the motion of a bucket falling, "A gallon of paint falls onto her head! The only thing better than that is if the paint melts the witch." Namine snorted.

 **Roxas**

"Do you need a ride or anything?" Zexion had approached Roxas from behind, removing his work-gloves as he stepped in sync with the blonde.

"Nah, I'm good. I've got a friend picking me up." Roxas nodded, walking with the man towards the parking lot as they briefly discussed their less than friendly volunteer manager. Once they got closer to the parking lot, Roxas spotted Demyx leaning against his car, waiting for him.

As soon as the musician spotted him, the faux-hawked man approached him, "Oi, you look like shit." There was a broad grin on the man's face, but the slight sneer didn't go unnoticed by Roxas.

"Yeah, well, I just spent the last two hours cleaning up trash. What's your excuse?" Roxas smirked at his friend.

In response, Demyx dramatically clutched his chest as if he'd just been shot, pained grunting and gargling ensuing followed immediately by chuckling, "Brutal, man. " Demyx smirked.

The fact that Demyx and Roxas were friends was a complete mystery to the both of them. Demyx was three years older than him and they'd met at a group-therapy program for troubled youth. Back then Roxas had been fourteen and completely infatuated with the older male, but his puppy-love had been crushed the moment he realized Demyx fulfilled the role of older-brother. Now, Roxas couldn't even imagine having a crush on the musician.

"You going to introduce me to your friend?" Demyx smirked at Zexion now, who seemed to recoil under the intense gaze. To anyone who knew Demyx, it was easy to deduce that he was about as threatening as stuffed animal. However, to those who didn't know him, he looked just short of a mafia hit-man. It didn't surprise Roxas, though. After all, Demyx had a sharp, angular face matched with the eye-color of jagged ice. It didn't help that the blonde's face could occasionally be difficult to read and the eighties punk-rock get-up didn't make him look any less thuggish.

"This is Zexion. Zexion, Demyx." Roxas introduced, smiling reassuringly to Zexion who didn't seem entirely convinced that he wasn't about to get mugged in the parking lot.

"Nice to meet you." Zexion all but forced a smile on his face, looking painfully uncomfortable as he shook Demyx's hand.

Zexion then turned to Roxas, a softer smile on his face, "I should probably get going. See you at school, Roxas. Uh, Demyx." Zexion added, acknowledging the two males once more before walking over to his car.

Roxas shook his head when Demyx's eyes lewdly trailed after Zexion, "Control yourself, Casanova. I think he's a little out of your league and probably straight."

"I can admire a nice ass without wanting to bone it." Demyx countered, scoffing, "Plus he looked terrified of me." Demyx chuckled, amusement evident in his tone.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't know that you cry whenever you watch the Titanic." Roxas teased


	7. Chapter Six

**Axel**

Axel diligently watched his hands in the mirror as he fixed his tie, staring at the patterned fabric with a scowl before yanking it off and tossing it on his bed. In exchange, he reached for a maroon tie and was half-way through tying it when his mother walked into his bedroom. He turned to give her a look of acknowledgement, "I'm almost done."

"Everything's going to be fine, Axel." His mother wore a knowing smile, walking over to where he stood in front of his full-length mirror. Reluctantly, Axel turned to face her, regressing to his youth where his mother would expertly knot his ties, fingers skillfully working the fabric until it was perfect. Another smile graced her features as she smoothed out his shirt collar for him, "Handsome as always."

Axel didn't smile at the compliment, too withdrawn from the scene. Instead, he fidgeted with the cuff-links of his charcoal suit, avoiding eye-contact with her, "They're going to ask questions." Axel had grown accustomed to lavish parties, each one easily superimposed over the next until they blurred together into an unrecognizable mesh-mash of memories. As his father's son, he was expected to smile and pose, a complacent museum piece to be admired. A heir to his father's legacy and a testament to his father's virility, but Axel had fucked up.

Axel's mother reached up to cradle his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Axel. No one will fault you for being sick." His mother reinforced her statement with a soft, sincere smile. Axel always found himself wanting to believe her in these moments, but he almost never did. His mother was too much of an optimist when it came to their high-society friends.

 **Roxas**

Roxas tossed his duffle bag onto his bed, unzipping it and tossing the gym clothes contained inside into a nearby laundry basket. Beside him Demyx was in the middle of lighting up a cigarette, which was immediately snatched out of his hands by Roxas, "My mother has the nose of a police-dog and if she catches you in here, she'll flip." Roxas hissed through gritted teeth, scolding Demyx as if he were a hapless child.

The older blond merely snickered, raising his hands in mock-surrender, "Wouldn't want to upset mama-bear." The male teased, sitting on the bed before leaning back so that his lower half hung off the bed, feet firmly planted on the floor. Without his cigarette, Demyx eased his desire to smoke by repeatedly clicking his lighter.

Meanwhile, Roxas crouched down to pull out a rolled-up tool kit that he kept hidden beneath his bed. As he placed it on the bed, he uncoiled it to make sure that all of the tools were in place before tossing it into the duffle bag along with two sets of black leather gloves and ski-masks.

"I just have to change my shirt and then we can leave." Roxas spoke nonchalantly, pulling his baby-blue t-shit over his head before tossing it to the side. He cast a side-eyed glare at Demyx when the older of the two wolf-whistled at him, a snicker escaping Demyx's lips as he watched. Roxas fathomed Demyx's insatiable sex-drive was another reason he'd never tried pursuing the older male. Not that Roxas didn't think he could keep up, but Demyx had about as much loyalty as a male rabbit set-loose in a rabbit hutch full of females.

Just as Roxas was pulling a black-sweater over his head, his door opened, "Roxas, mom said you—" Namine trailed off, pausing to observe the two males and then, presumably, the duffle bag, "- have to take out the trash" Namine finished more slowly now, taking a spoonful of yogurt she'd been eating.

"Heya, squeakers." Demyx spoke now, sitting up to smile at Roxas' sister. Roxas shook his head at the nick-name 'squeakers', something Demyx used to call Namine because she was constantly tattling on them when she was younger. Now, however, Demyx said it out of adoration, even if it occasionally annoyed Namine.

"What are you two doing?" Roxas flinched at his sister's tone. He both admired and feared his sister's impressive ability to adopt their mother's sense of authority. The girl eyed them suspiciously, eyes darting between them as she continued to spoon out yogurt for herself.

"Well, Namine, we didn't want to tell you, but," Demyx started, feigned remorse riding his tone, "Your brother and I are running away to elope. He's _pregnant_." Demyx whispered the last part, leaning forward as he spoke in a futile attempt to keep Roxas from hearing the 'he's pregnant' part. Roxas didn't even flinch at the notion, choosing to let out an exasperated sigh as he returned to his bed-side to zip up the duffle bag.

"With a—" Namine paused, leaning forward to get a better look into the duffle bag, "-tool kit and ski-masks? Huh, that should make for an interesting honey-moon." Namine finished, raising her brows to express her amusement, "But before you do that, Roxas has to take out the garbage."

Roxas frowned, knowing that it was rare that his sister would be so nonchalant about him sneaking out, but he assumed by the glint in her eye that the younger sibling would think of a way for him to pay her back for her keeping silent.

 **Axel**

Axel had managed to avoid the persistent questions that came flooding out of mouths that belonged to faces he could barely identify. He smiled and laughed, pretending he had a glimmer of understanding when his father's partners joked about business. When they asked if he was planning to take over his father's hotel empire one day, a question they'd been asking him since he was three, he smiled with a modest 'We'll see.' When there was finally a lull in the activity, he made a beeline to the bar where he coaxed the under-paid bartender to give him a shot of something stronger than the wine that was being passed around to party-goers.

"Axel." The familiar voice made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on-end. He found himself shutting his eyes in contemplation before opening them once again, turning in the bar stool to face the speaker. His vermillion eyes met with a pair of dark-honey eyes that appeared golden in the correct lighting.

"Saix." The red-head countered, slipping off the bar stool to face the older male. Saix and Axel had grown up with each other, bonded by their father's business relationship despite Saix being a few years older than him. They'd been good friends during childhood, but Axel was quick to realize how manipulative and deceitful his friend could be. Their relationship had become particularly strained when the older male introduced him to the fast-paced and altogether decadent life-style that Saix thrived on.

"Oh, there you are Axel." Axel's mother interrupted the reunion, eying her son's drink with contempt, but choosing to save him the humiliation of a parental scolding. Instead, she smiled, "Your father wanted me to tell you that Riku and his parents just arrived." Axel's mother then smiled broadly at Saix, "You get more handsome every time I see you, Saix. A spitting image of your father."

Axel watched as his mother kissed Saix's cheek, the male smiling fondly, "You look stunning as always, Mrs. Lancaster."

"Thank you, dear, but I insist you call me Sophia. You and Axel have been friends since the two of you were in grammar school, almost as long as him and RIku. "Sophia jokingly scolded, a teasing smile playing on her features as she shook her head, "How's your mother, dear?"

Saix frowned, hanging his head briefly as if in thought before raising it to look at Axel's mother, "She's hanging in there. Some days are better than others, but we're managing it." Axel thought about Saix's mother, a frail and fragile woman who'd been battling with lupus for the last five years. Listening to Saix talk about her so amicably made his stomach churn as he recalled the numerous times they'd broken into her medicine cabinet to siphon her pain-killers.

The conversation between his mother and Saix continued until Axel lost track of what was being discussed until he felt his mother's hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly, "Well, I'll leave you two boys to catch up. If I see Riku I'll be sure to send him your way."

Axel smiled alongside Saix, watching his mother blend back into the crowd. "Heard you spent a year in some glamorous rehab-facility." Saix started, his gaze lingering on the crowd as he spoke.

"I didn't." Axel stated flatly, placing his empty glass on waitress' tray as she walked back. It was the same line of questioning he'd heard over and over again about his sudden departure. The rumor was that he'd left to receive treatment from a rehab facility in Australia. They envisioned a glamorous resort filled with strung-out, but glamorous, celebrities who wrote down their feelings in journals and mediatated all in a vague attempt to recall their soul from the temptation of earthly sins. Pool included, of course. In truth, his drug problem was only a fraction of a reality he didn't want to address. He had not, under any circumstances, spent his year in rehab.

"I didn't think so." Saix finished, a smirk playing on his face. Axel knew that smirk, the sadistic curling of lips that usually indicated that Saix was receiving monumental pleasure from knowing more than anyone else at the party. Saix now gave him his full attention, "You still owe me money. With interest, of course. Ten grand shoulder cover it."

"Ten grand? Where the fuck do you think I'm going to get ten grand?" Axel seethed through clenched teeth, trying to keep his voice down though his emphasized 'fuck' earned him a few curious glances.

Saix smiled reassuringly at those who stared, "Ask your daddy." Saix suggested with ease, taunting Axel. For a moment he ignored Axel, instead accepting an appetizer from waitress, proceeding to flirt with the woman until dismissing her with a level of grace just short of a prince.

"He's not going to let me borrow ten grand, especially not without asking questions." Axel spat back, his anger bubbling under the surface. He was trying to maintain his composure, but the overwhelming desire to tackle Saix to the floor and repeatedly smash his face against the slate floor-tile was eating away at his patience.

"You should have thought about that before writing a check your ass couldn't cash. Let me offer you a solution," Saix began, waving at one of his father's partners in acknowledgement before continuing in a hushed tone, "Work for me and I'll expunge your debt. "

Axel frowned, searching Saix's face for any sign that the man was capable of human compassion, but it was a futile effort. Saix had ensnared him into a life that wasn't easy to escape and Axel had been foolish to think the man would've just let him walk away, "I'm not going to peddle drugs for you." Axel stated matter-of-factly, pressing Saix's limits.

"Do you remember what I did to Seifer for snitching? Well, imagine, if you will, me hiring a couple of goons to beat the living shit out of you until you're nothing but human viscera on the pavement. Despite the threatening tone, Saix wore a well-practiced smile on his face. Anyone watching them would have assumed the two men were midst a jovial conversation, "I've got a friend who lives on south-side, Xigbar, who can hook you up. Just, you know, no free samples." Saix laughed, patting Axel on the back just in time for Riku to weave his way through the crowd.

"Riku, I'm surprised to see your better half isn't attached to your arm." Saix acknowledged Riku,effectively ending the conversation with Axel "Trouble in paradise?"

"Fuck off, Saix." Riku spoke unabashed, surprising both Axel and Saix. Though, Axel recalled that his friend had been rather curt all day, presumably still coming-off from the previous night's events.

"Still an obnoxious Neanderthal, I see." Saix smiled.

Everything that proceeded the insult was a flurry of chaos as a hot-flash of anger graced Riku's features before the man tackled Saix to the floor of the ballroom. In the midst of it all, a waitress was knocked over, drinks crashing to the floor in a spray of glass and red-wine, staining hems of dresses. A couple of woman screamed in shock, trying to avoid the cross-fire.

In response, Axel jumped into the all-out brawl taking place, trying to detach the two feuding men. With some effort, the red-head managed to pull Riku off Saix, the platinum blonde coming to rest at Axel's feet on the floor. Riku was mostly unscathed aside from his disheveled clothes whereas Saix had blood pouring from his nose. With the assistance of bystanders, Saix was raised to his feet where he yanked his arms away from the hapless strangers, anger evident on his face. Axel almost expected Saix to tackle Riku in return, but he didn't. Instead he wiped at his face with the back of his hand, unintentionally smearing blood across his face as he steadied his breathing.

"What is going on!?" Riku's father, Leonardo, pushed through the crowd to see what the commotion was all about. His expression soured as his gaze fell upon Riku, who was still sitting on the floor, and then to Saix, who was now holding a tissue to his bloodied nose courtesy of the waitress. Axel reacted by hoisting Riku to his feet, trying to restore some dignity to his friend's state.

 **Roxas**

Roxas waited for Demyx to give him the hand signal and when he did, he rolled the ski-mask down to cover his face, minus the openings meant for his eyes and mouth. He snuck around to the back of the house and opened the screen door, twisting the door-knob to check the lock, "Spring-lock. No deadbolt." Roxas observed in a hush tone, pulling out a lament card from his back pocket which he slide through the crack of the door jamb. With some effort, the lock popped and he could push the door open only for it to stop, a chain-lock preventing further access.

Roxas grunted out of annoyance, stepping aside as Demyx removed a rubber-band from around his wrist. With Roxas shining a flash-light on the door, Demyx intertwined the rubber band around one of the chain links, and with moderate ease, he pulled the rubber band down until it had hooked around the doorknob on the inside. He was careful not to accidentally snap the rubber band as he pulled his arm back out to reclose the door, causing the rubber-band to pop the pin out of the sliding lock.

Demyx then opened the door, "Ta-da" Roxas could barely make out the smirk on his companions face, shaking his head as he followed the man inside. The house was vacant of life and, not surprisingly, without alarm. As they walked through the house, Roxas kept his flash-light low so as to make sure the light wasn't seen from outside.

Demyx had already gone upstairs, undoubtedly raiding any jewelry that looked even remotely expensive. Roxas chose to stay down stairs, searching for anything of interest. A quick scan of the area allowed him to find money stuffed inside of a coffee mug that had been placed on a display rack. He stuffed the rolled up bills into the back pocket of his jeans, moving on to the living room and then finally to a study. Most of the electronics were too bulky to steal, but he was able to located tablet which he stuffed into the duffle bag that was slung across his torso. Along with it he took an iPod that had been plugged into a speaker system.

As he decided there wasn't much else worth stealing, he followed Demyx up the stairs. The stairwell leading up was lined with pictures of a young couple with two boys who couldn't be more than ten. Roxas frowned, guilt swimming at the base of his stomach, but only served to propel him further into the house. As he reached the last step, he peaked around the darkness, "Demyx?"

There was only silence, prompting Roxas to ask a little louder. Still, nothing. The silence was unsettling as he continued to poke his head into the vacant rooms, "This isn't funny, Dem." Roxas scowled, patience wearing thin, both over the necessity for them to move on before someone came home, but also because he knew Demyx a little too well.

Roxas was just on the verge of putting a curse upon Demyx's lineage when the man popped out from behind the bathroom door, wearing a Halloween mask. The result was Roxas jumping backward and smacking into the wall behind him, knocking a picture frame to the floor that shattered.

"Oh, fuck" Demyx snickered, pulling the mask of his face to see the damage. Out of reflex, Roxas kicked Demyx in the shin, smirking when the older blonde yelped in pain.

"Don't do that, Asshole." Roxas scolded, ignoring Demyx's whines for the time being, "Find anything good?"

 **xxxx**

Roxas found himself running out of steam by the third house and his superstitious mind told him it was best to call it quits before getting sloppy. With the last of their stolen goods stuffed inside of Demyx's car, he climbed into the passenger seat and spent the drive to Demyx's house listening to the blond croon out tunes alongside the radio. Roxas had almost fallen asleep when the car finally came to a stop. With newfound energy, Roxas helped Demyx unload the duffle bags and as they walked into the house, they were greeted with the sight of Demyx's roommate, Xigbar, playing what Roxas assumed was a Call of Duty game. Adjacent to Xigbar, sitting in a recliner, was Saix who held an ice-pack to his face while wearing a glare that could melt, well, ice.

"Well if it isn't hot-rod and his pet monkey." Saix called out, maintaining his less then pleasant disposition despite his friendly tone as he looked at both Demyx and Roxas.

"Rox, man, you 'gonna let him call you a monkey like that?" Demyx spoke in feigned shock, using the back of his hand to smack Roxas' shoulder as if to egg him on.

Roxas gave Demyx a grave expression, mirroring that of a doctor about to deliver a cancer patient the worse news of their life, "Listen, Demyx, I don't know how to tell you this, but I definitely think you're the monkey in this scenario."

There was exchanged laughter between the two, ended when Demyx climbed over the back of the couch to sit with Xigbar, a brief power struggle ensuing as Demyx tried to coercive the controller from his roommate's hands.

"You look like you could use a beer." Roxas spoke pointedly as he glanced over Saix, walking into the kitchen as an invitation to follow.

Roxas considered Saix short of an anomaly. He knew the man came from north-side and was graced with a hefty trust-fund courtesy of his father's career as a real-estate agent. In addition, despite Saix only being twenty-two, he'd already begun creating a name for himself in the real-estate industry. Which, of course, made it all the stranger that Saix insisted on hanging around Xigbar and them. Roxas didn't consider Saix a close friend though, more like a close acquaintance given how little he knew about the blue-haired male. It seemed Xigbar and Saix were extremely, though most of what the two did together was usually kept behind closed doors, outside of ear shot. Even Demyx didn't seem in on the secret, something the older blond often complained about. While Roxas couldn't be certain, he had a feeling the two were involved in dealing drugs.

"Didn't you have a banquet tonight? Doesn't exactly have a street-fighter ring to it." Roxas smirked, gesturing to Saix's face as he pulled out two beers from the fridge. As he tossed one to Saix, he hopped up on the counter and popped open the cap, awaiting an explanation.

"Well, y'know, being born into high-class doesn't exactly grant you _real_ class." Saix mumbled, making a face as he looked over the label of the cheap beer, "Just a minor dispute between a couple of old friends."

There was something dark to Saix's tone, but Roxas couldn't quite place it, "Sounds like my kind of party." The blond mused, arching a brow as he took a sip of his beer.

"Well, I'll keep you in mind the next time I need a date." The smirk that graced Saix's face was one that he'd seen the man use before, mostly before escorting someone to bed. As nice as Saix could be, Roxas always heard a small alarm going off in the back of his head that told him the guy was bad news.

"Something tells me that you don't have too many problems in the free-date department." Roxas countered, easing into a naturally flirtatious state without crossing into a territory he could get caught in.

Saix had taken a step-forward, seemingly prepared to say something when Xigbar entered the kitchen. The older man was mumbling heatedly under his breath about something while rubbing at his neck, a visible red splotch taking up a decent portion of his tanned skin.

"Is that a hickey?" Saix questioned, squinting at Xigbar, or more specifically, Xigbar's neck.

"I see you've relinquished control of the controller." Roxas laughed knowingly from his spot on the counter, sliding off the counter-top to side-step Saix, joining Demyx in the living room.

 **Namine**

Namine had been in the middle of curling her hair when her cell phone went off. As she held her curling iron in position with one hand, she reached for her phone and checked her text messages with the other. She was so engrossed in the message that she let her curling-iron hand go slack, effectively burning herself. The blond immediately yelped, dropping the curling-iron into the ceramic sink. In a flurry of frustration, she placed the curling-iron pack into her metal holder before abandoning the bathroom altogether to find her brother.

She didn't bother knocking, barging into the room where Roxas was hidden beneath a pile of blankets, much to her annoyance. The older sibling had spent both Saturday and Sunday with Demyx, undoubtedly getting himself into unnecessary trouble. Her brother's delinquency wasn't anything new, though, he'd been acting out since he was old enough to disobey their parents. In fact, child-hood horror stories were common place at family gatherings. Where Roxas was the black-sheep of the family, Namine held the position of golden child. Surprisingly, though, the two siblings had never been pitted against each other. Instead, they were closer than most.

"Roxas, get up!" The girl whined, pulling blankets off her brother. The older sibling grunted, clearly awake, but keeping his eyes tightly shut. In response the girl sat on the edge of his bed, sucking on her index finger before sticking it in her brother's ear in a 'wet-willy', causing the older sibling to let out a snarl of annoyance as he finally cracked open his baby-blue eyes, their intensity narrowing in on Namine.

"What?" Roxas half snapped, sitting up to rub the heels of his palms into his eye-sockets.

"Well, aside from the fact that we have school in about thirty-minutes, you should check this out." Namine tossed her phone on Roxas' lap, watching as the older sibling squinted as his alarm-clock in disbelief before finally acknowledging the cellular device.

 **Roxas**

The teenager was somewhere between crawling back under his covers and committing fratricide as he unlocked the cell-phone, eye-brow arched in curiosity. He opened it up to a text-message that Namine seemed eager for him to read. It was another text-message from 'X', only it didn't come attached with a tag-line at some classmate's expense. Instead, it was a link to a website, "You woke me up for this bullshit?" Roxas gritted his teeth, furrowing his brows as he clicked on the link.

"Uhm, yeah?" Namine gave him a look as if he had two-heads, seemingly expecting him to be more heated over it. In reality, Roxas didn't care. Whether 'X' was Kairi, or some nomad, the person was an obnoxious coward. He couldn't imagine that anyone was genuinely worried about what this person had to say.

Roxas merely shook his head, focusing back on the newly loaded website, "Well, they're not exactly the New York Times, are they?" Roxas mused, whistling in mock 'awe' at the website that was dedicated to releasing gossip about students at St. Jude all under the pseudonym 'X'. The web-site provided an additional link, only it went to a one-way inbox in which the student body was called upon to deliver 'hot-tips' to whoever 'X' was. On top it, the author of the web-site provided the ability to 'subscribe' to the website through cell-phone, presumably as a way to move on from the mass text-messaging system.

"That's some real hard-hitting journalism." Roxas snorted, tossing the phone back to Namine before reaching for his own, confirming that he'd been sent the text message as well, "Still think its Kairi?"

Namine frowned, looking over her phone, "I don't know. I mean, it has Kairi written all over it. Plus, at the party, Riku told Sora that Kairi was planning something." Namine argued her point.

"Well, I can't imagine that this stunt will last long. Who'd be stupid enough to actually inflate this person's ego?" Roxas rolled his eyes, finally getting out of bed, "Nice hairdo, by the way." Roxas smirked, gesturing to the half-straight, half-curled hair that Namine currently adorned.

"Ah, crap, my curling iron!" Namine stood quickly, leaving the room to undoubtedly finish getting dressed for school.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** First, I want to thank everyone who has commented/fav'd/followed/read. It means a lot to me. Also, to adress comments from previous reviews, yes this is partially inspired from Gossip Girl as well as other series like Pretty Little Liars and Shameless (US). And I know that some of the characters are very much OOC, but I promise that they'll grow in a variety of ways!

Aside from that, I just wanted to address that I hope this story isn't too convuluted. I wanted to intergrate multiple stories so that more character's could have their role in the fan-fic instead of justing focusing soley on Axel and Roxas, even if they are the main focus. But I'm glad people are enjoying it so far!


	8. Chapter Seven

**Roxas**

Roxas had just rounded the corner to his chemistry class when he spotted Axel walking towards him. The red-head didn't spare him a glance of acknowledgment, keeping his gaze off into the distance, "Pretty sure the chemistry lab is that way." Roxas pointed in the direction Axel had been walking away from, pulling his head-phones from his ear to hear the red-head.

"Skipping." Was the curt reply that from the red-heads lips as he pushed past Roxas as if he wasn't actually there to begin with. Though, once past him, the red-head turned around to face him, walking backwards, "Come with me."

The invitation remained suspended in the space between them as Roxas looked at Axel. The red-head's normally exuberant eyes seemed void of their usual spark, light-purple cricles painting the space between his eyes and cheek bones as a testament to a sleep-less night. In fact, the longer the blond stared, the more he realized just how off-kilter the man appeared.

Roxas chewed on the inside of his cheek, "Where would we go?" Part of him rationalized that he was making a poor decision, especially considering he still had no proof that Axel was a reliable human being. Still, something told him the red-head was in desperate need of company, especially seeing as he'd asked Roxas to tagalong on a whim.

"A museum." Axel hesitated on the word, as if was measuring how lame the game-plan actually was, "An _art_ museum." Axel clarified, rolling his shoulders in a shrug.

Roxas laughed, crossing his arms over his chest as he sized the man up, "A museum? You really are a human anomaly Mr. Lancaster." Roxas teased, drawing out the syllabus of Axel's last name as he walked past him, glancing over his shoulder as Axel turned to follow after him, "I've never been to an art museum before."

Now it was Axel's turn to laugh as he matched Roxas' strides while they walked down the hall back towards the stair-well, "But you've at least been to a museum before, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Roxas countered, the lie slipping between his teeth before his brain could fully process what he'd done. Truth was, he'd never been to any museum before. Namine had tried to coax him to going to a few, but he always made excuses last minute. Roxas found the concept of museums boring, especially ones involving art as Roxas didn't have an eye for it. He could, for example, deduce that Namine was talented at art, but whenever she rattled off the nitty-gritty about a piece, it seemed to glaze over him. Thus, for the life of him, he couldn't explain why he was not only agreeing to go to a museum, but why he couldn't be honest about having never gone to one before.

For the moment, silence hung between them as they stepped outside of the school, keeping out of sight by administration. However, as they neared the senior parking lot, it was then that Roxas realized that Axel was not only making a beeline for his motorcycle, but that Roxas was expected to actually ride on it. Arguably, there wasn't much that genuinely scared Roxas, but motorcycles definitely fell in the range of fears.

"Are you asking me to ride on that," Roxas paused, narrowing his eyes at the motorcycle that was a sleek-black, " _thing_." Roxas finished with a frown, catching the helmet that Axel tossed in his direction.

"I mean, you can run alongside it if you want." Axel grinned, his dripping-sarcasm returning in a brief flash. Still maintaing his smirk, Axel straddled the bike, turning the vehicle on so that it revved with life. Staring at the red-head in disbelief, Roxas realized that Axel was not only very serious about him getting on the bike, but that Axel had given him his only helmet.

Roxas bit into his bottom lip, narrowing his eyes at the red-head who waited expectantly, if not a little impatiently. Eventually, Roxas hesitantly put the helmet on and straddled the bike, though seemingly at a loss as for what he should hold on to. That is, until Axel reached behind and grabbed his hands, putting them on his waist. In the transaction, Roxas briefly noted the surprisingly calloused fingers of the older male, but any desire to dwell on it was quickly squashed the moment Axel maneuvered out of the parking space and took off, the sudden jolt of speed causing Roxas to clutch onto the fabric of Axel's jacket until he knuckles turned white.

When they finally reached their destination, Roxas' fingers were painfully numb from the death grip he had applied to the fabric of Axel's jacket. Making matters worse was Axel's apparent disregard for their safety as the man had weaved in and out of traffic, creating lanes where none truly existed all of which served to piss off other motorists.

As Roxas got off the bike, he found himself trying to re-gain his sense of footing, unaware of how much he'd actually been shaking with adrenaline and anxiety until he was on solid ground. As he yanked the helmet off, he glared at Axel with enough intensity to create nuclear devastation, "What the fuck was that?"

Axel snickered, gracefully catching the helmet that was partially chucked at him, "Guess you've never been on a motorcycle before?"

"Good detective work, Sherlock." Roxas spoke through gritted teeth while steadying his breathing. At this point, he was fully regretting his decision to tagalong with the older adolescent.

"Hey, I'm really sorry, Rox. I didn't mean to scare you." Axel's tone was surprisingly genuine and soft now, a complete shift from the snarky one moments before. As Roxas looked at Axel, he could see concern written on his face.

In response, Roxas let out a sigh, "It's just—I don't like motorcycles." Roxas admittedly truthfully, his cheeks tainting a light shade of pink out of embarrassment. If there was one thing that Roxas hated more than motorcycles, it was admitting that he actually had a weakness. It didn't help that Axel looked like a kicked-pup in the wake of his scolding.

"I'll drive slower on the way back." Axel responded, not hint of sarcasm lacing his words as he studied Roxas.

"Uh-huh." Roxas responded dryly, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he studied the tall red-head, "Just lead the way to your art museum." Roxas finished, gesturing with a tilt of his head toward the large gothic-styled museum.

 **xxx**

Once inside of the building, Roxas marveled at how the museum's interior was vastly modern in contrast to its Gothic exterior. Everything appeared sleek and minimalist in the main-lobby, large panes of glass separating the lobby from the interior exhibits. At the center of the lobby was a ticket-booth, boasting brochures and flyers that high-lighted any nearby events.

Axel, of course, didn't even pause as he walked straight up to the desk, paying for two tickets. Roxas had wanted to protest the gesture, but Axel had cut him off before he could even begin, "Consider it my way of apologizing for my reckless driving." Axel smirked, that playful glint returning to his sleepless eyes.

Roxas found himself grumbling beneath his breath, accepting the ticket with a pout. As he followed Axel into the first exhibit, Roxas realized how suddenly out of place he felt. The space was large, spread out with various sculptures and wax installations rising from the hardwood floor like spiraling weeds. It made him feel small and insignificant, especially when standing in front of paintings that climbed sky-ward, boasting abstract ministrations and heavy-handed brush strokes.

Axel blended in among the works of art, and Roxas was convinced that in another life, Axel had been a marble slab turned Greek sculpture. Roxas' own romanticization of the older adolescent was practically mind-numbing and it made him click his front teeth together as if he could obliterate all of his sexuality with the single gesture.

"What do you want to do after high school?" The question sprung from his mouth quicker than he intended, catching both himself and Axel off guard.

"No one has ever asked me that before." Axel spoke slowly, as if trying on the words, "Everyone just assumes that I'm destined to take over my father's business."

"Do you want to take over his business?" Roxas asked, arching a brow as he stepped away from the painting he was looking at to observe a wax figurine of a bikini-clad woman who was emerging from the floor as if it were a pool of water.

"Fuck no." Axel answered hastily, shaking his head, "I want to get into a mediocre state university and study psychology not because I _have_ to, but because I _want_ to. " There was underlying anger in Axel's tone, as if he was speaking from somewhere deeper than the surface conversation they were currently orchestrating.

Roxas had to bite his tongue from saying something sarcastic at the red-heads desperate tone, realizing that it would mean walking into a minefield he knew nothing about. Thankfully, Axel spared him from his own annihilation as the red-head exhaled through his nose, "What about you?"

Roxas mulled the question over in his head, "Astrophysics." The word rolled off his tongue with ease, shoulders rolling. It was no secret that Roxas easily scored into the ninety-ninth percentile on both his pre-SATs and ACTs, having taken both for the sake of filling his time. He, despite his less than holy recreational activities, maintained a 4.0 GPA and was in several advanced placement classes. Sure, he was a juvenile delinquent, but it didn't mean he wasn't _smart_.

Axel laughed, "I'm trying to climb down the economic totem-pole and you're trying to climb up. Perhaps, people truly do desire the things they can't have."

The statement fluttered between them, both males making an impressive amount of eye-contact despite every fiber in Roxas' body encouraging him to look away. The statement resonated with him, high-lighting a truth that Roxas didn't want to acknowledge. Perhaps, he'd only agreed to come with Axel because he was looking for something in the male that was unobtainable. It seemed silly, especially considering they'd only talked to each other a handful of times. Yet, there was an underlying magnetic pull that told Roxas he was _exactly_ where he was supposed to be.

 **xxx**

The latter conversation plunged them into an extended silence, both males merely falling in strides next ot each other as they observed the various pieces of art. Howver, by the time they'd reached the Egyptian exhbit, Roxas had stopped looking at the art and instead focused on Axel. Art was lost on Roxas, but what wasn't lost on him, was the way Axel's eyes lit up with childlike curiosity everytime they passed a piece. His face was continously forming delicated smiles, green-eyes reverberating over the pieces as if he was trying to absorb every intricate detail into his being. It was painfully memorizing and Roxas had to clear his throat by the time they reached the Modern art exhibit, removing the excess salivia that had built-up in his throat.

"So, why an art museum?" Roxas finally asked, standing in front of a canvas that covered the wall. The content of the painting was a muddled mess of colors and geometric shapes, making it difficult to distinguish what was going on, if anything.

Axel was busy admiring a different painting, though not too far off from the one Roxas was looking at, "I always come here when I need to think." Axel answered honestly, causing Roxas to peel his eyes away from the painting and focus them on Axel. The confession made sense given how well-rehearsed Axel was in navigating the labyrinth Axel insisted was a museum.

"My mother used to take me here all the time when I was a kid and now I come here on my own volition. It's comforting, I guess. Somewhere safe." Axel continued, his eyes never once moving from the painting he was staring at.

In turn, Roxas moved to stand alongside him, "I used to hide under the kitchen sink when I was a kid. " He offered, immediately embarrassed at his own honesty, "Actually, I'm pretty sure I could still finagle myself in there if I wanted." Roxas chuckled, Axel smiling in response.

"You have a nice laugh." Axel looked at him now, green-eyes searching over him.

"Why'd you ask me to come?" Roxas countered quickly, displaying his prominent inability to accept a compliment.

"Why'd you agree to come?" Axel was just as quick on his feet, eye-brow raised in expectance.

Roxas found himself biting at his inner cheek again, eyes scanning over anything that wasn't Axel before he answered, "Well, it certainly wasn't for you charm and good looks if that's what you're thinking." Roxas smirked, moving on to a different painting as if it would save him from his own insufferable aggrandizing behavior.

Axel followed, "Do you always cope with your social ineptness with well-placed sarcasm and childish charm?"

"Who says I'm coping?" Roxas turned to look at Axel, jaw hardening at what Roxas took as a social challenge.

"You're _cute_ when you're angry." Axel finished, smirk gracing his features as he returned to admiring a painting.

"Are you flirting with me?" Roxas dead-panned, his sapphire eyes scanning over Axel as if he could solve the thousand piece puzzle just by sight. Perhaps it was a bold assertion on his part, but male heterosexuality rarely came wrapped in male-to-male compliments regarding _cuteness_. Not to mention, Axel's audacity to flirt with him so boldly was truly evidence to the red-head's superior social status because no male who scrounged at the bottom of the social ladder would take such a daring risk. It was a power struggle if Roxas had ever been privy to one.

"And what if I am?" Axel leaned forward now, closing some distance between him and Roxas. It wasn't enough to draw outside attention, but it was enough to jump-start Roxas' heart into doing double time. Roxas felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach, similar to the one he got when Saix had hit on him the night prior. Only, it was unmistakably different, and it was that difference that made Roxas recoil.

"You're so full of shit, _Lancaster_." Roxas spoke suddenly, rolling his eyes at the red-head. Roxas couldn't conceive any reality in which Axel wasn't completely full of bullshit, "You don't even know me."

"Strangers flirt all the time, why is it so hard to believe I'm flirting with you?" Axel knitted his brows together in confusion, head tilting to one side. Roxas felt that he was being played with, especially given the people Axel associated himself with. Hell, Roxas didn't even have proof that Axel wasn't in on the whole public-outting of Sora. However, If there was one thing Roxas believed he was good at, it was playing games.

Thus, Roxas laughed, raising his arms in mock-surrender, "Alright, then kiss me. Right here, in front of _all_ these people." Roxas challenged, a smirk on his face. The blond exuded confidence, certain that he'd out maneuvered the red-head in his own game. He believed, with every fiber of his being, that Axel was full of shit.

In fact, he'd been so caught up basking in his premature celebration of victory, his brain didn't even process that Axel was closing the distance between them until their lips met. Electricity surged through Roxas in the form of exploding neurons, breathing hitching in his throat. He jerked back as if he'd been scolded by a flame, finger-tips grazing over the sensation that still lingered on his lips.

In retrospect, Roxas realized provoking a dragon until it breathed fire was never a good idea.

"I have to go." Roxas pushed past Axel, biceps grazing as he made a beeline for the nearest exit, even if it entailed jumping out of a window. It didn't matter that Axel had driven him here, if he had to, Roxas would walk the ten miles back to his house so long as it meant he didn't have to spend another minute in the red-head's prescence. He was angry and he didn't understand _why_.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Zexion**

Zexion was almost certain that spontaneous human combustion was inevitable because for the life of him he couldn't figure out how people that were older than the pavement they drove on were able to maintain their licenses. As it were, Zexion was running late for his first day at his new job, having got caught up at a Yearbook Committee meeting. Thus, the mere concept of tarnishing his reputation for being punctual, had him slamming an open palm against the horn of his steering wheel at the elderly woman that was determined to drive ten miles under the speed limit.

So, maybe, he was a little _tense_.

Changing lanes last minute had someone honking at him to which he responded with a prominent middle finger before blowing a yellow light last-minute. With the spectacular ability to ease his car in and out of traffic now, he found himself arriving at the coffee shop with less than a minute to spare. As he entered through the employee entrance, he pulled on the work apron that boasted the coffee shops name, 'It's a Grind' in looping cursive, tying it behind him with little difficulty. He was thankful that he had had the foresight to change into his work uniform prior to leaving school, sparing him more than a handful of minutes. The only thing left was his name-tag which he quickly clipped on to his shirt before running straight into someone, "For fuck's sake." Zexion hissed under his breath, sucking air through clenched teeth as the sheer force of the impact. Whoever he ran into might as well as been a brick wall.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

The voice was strangely familiar and laced with the reminants of what Zexion was certain was an Australian accent. Zexion slowly looked up with painful recognition as he came face to, well, _shoulder_ with Roxas' friend, Demyx. There was a brief pause as Zexion took in the man's stoic expression, a blonde eye-brow arched and a taunting smirk quickly finding its way on the older man's face. All of which Zexion found painfully _annoying_ , "Wait, _you_ work _here_?" Zexion eyed the man with disbelief.

Demyx snorted, a ring-clad hand reaching up to rub at the stubble of hair that was collecting on his chin, "Yeah, for three years, I'm a manager last time I checked." The older man grinned, corners of his mouth quirking up in amusement, "And you must be the newbie I'm supposed to train, right? Come along then _, kiddo_ " Demyx waved him forward, apparently seeing little need to apologize for knocking the wind out of Zexion. In turn, Zexion sighed, skin prickling at the condescending nick-name as he followed.

The next few hours were spent listening to Demyx speak in what Zexion was certain was a tongue reserved solely for the possessed. It was, as Zexion had come to realize, pretentious coffee-shop talk, or more appropriately, the five hundred coffee combinations outside of Zexion's usual order of 'black-coffee with two sugars'. Not to mention the numerous pastries and drink-orders aside from coffee. Of course, Demyx maneuvered himself in and out of orders with well-practiced speed and his ability to make everything appear effortless was both visually euphoric and yet down-right infuriating. Most annoying, was that Demyx had the type of happy-go-lucky personality that people were drawn to and he knew most of the customers by first name.

In comparison, Zexion moved like molasses, overbearing and controlling personality preventing him from making a single mistake. Unfortunately, his fingers were having a difficult type cooperating with his brain. In fact, they were shaking from rushing adrenaline, and when they weren't trembling, his fingers felt numb and stiff. When he did make a mistake, no matter how miniscule, Zexion had to fight the urge to dig nails into his skin until poinsettias blossomed in place.

"You need to _relax._ " Zexion jumped at the voice that whispered into his ear, ducking his head away before shooting an accusatory glare at Demyx. In response, Demyx barked out a laugh before taking the coffee cup away from Zexion, fitting the lid on and then sliding it across the counter to a customer who was too busy on their phone to notice the delay. With a brief lull in the activity, Demyx crossed his arms over his chest, "You're making coffee, not curing cancer. Why don't you take a five minute break before you die from cardiac arrest at, what, the tender age of sixteen?"

" _Seventeen."_ Zexion corrected hastily, ignoring the smirk on Demyx's face as he accepted the break, quickly dismissing himself to blow off steam in the employee lounge.

 **Hayner**

Roxas had appeared on his doorstep without so much as a text message of warning. He was out of breath and panting, blonde hair matted to his forehead as if he'd run all the way to his house and Hayner had the sinking suspicion that he had. Hayner had attempted to get a story out of him, but Roxas breezed past him as if he owned the place, insisting they play video games.

Thus, after breaking into the confines of his father's alcohol cabinet and ordering pizza, the two found themselves in the gaming room, switching through a variety of first-person shooters until they settled for the nostalgia inducing _Left 4 Dead_. In painfully dorky fashion, the two teenage boys talked zombie-survival strategy until Roxas blurted out his dilemma in the form of word vormit, "I kissed Axel—" Roxas started, never taking his eyes off the screen as a Tank came charging at the group of survivors with well-placed timing, "Or, well, _he_ kissed _me_ , but only after I dared him to."

Hayner had barely enough time to process the revelation through his own button-smashing, but when it did sink in, Hayner paused the game while ignoring Roxas' exasperated sighs of frustration, "Wait, _what_ -?"

Up until that point, Hayner had been under the misguided assumption that Roxas was straight, neither having made much of a commitment to address their sexual, nor romantic, preference in the lieu of neither being particularly capable at emotional expression. Hayner rationalized he didn't care if Roxas was gay, but the fact he hadn't piece it together himself was embarrassing to say the least.

Roxas was too busy rubbing the heels of his palms into his eye-sockets to catch Hayner's mental turmoil, groan escaping from his mouth before he looked at Hayner, "I mean part of me wanted him to do it, _I guess_. He's good looking, y'know, but he's a complete strange with a reputation of being an _asshole_."

"Well, let me be the first to say that, no, _I don't know_ ," Hayner started, ignoring the pointed glare Roxas was giving him before he continued, "And when did you even start talking to Axel?"

"We're in Chemistry together. Lab partners, to be exact." Roxas ran fingers through his hair, "Which is exactly the class I ditched to go hang out with Axel at an art museum." Before Hayner could even get a smart-mouthed comment in about the art museum, Roxas was running a hand down his face in a groan, "Don't even ask. He just seemed bummed out and he asked me to go. So I thought, _fuck it_ , right? It was kind of fun, even. But then he called me _cute_ and I thought he was queer-baiting me. Kind of how Riku fucked with Namine's feelings, y'know? So I dared him to kiss me thinking he'd slip up the façade, _but he didn't_. So _I_ freaked out instead."

Hayner found himself nodding dumbly at the explanation, still struggling to piece together everything, "So you ran and ended up here?" Hayner finished the puzzle himself, staring off into space for a few moments, "So—" Hayner started, furrowing his brows together while scrunching up his face, "—are you _gay_?" The word 'gay' came off in a halted whisper, as if to attest to Hayner's realization that sexualities outside of his heterosexual bubble of solitude existed.

"It's really good to see that you're keeping up with the conversation." Roxas stated pointedly, tossing the game controller to the side, "And my sexuality is really beside the point. What should I do?"

Hayner hesitated, rolling his shoulders forward, "I don't know, man. Look, I used to run in Axel's circle and he was a class-a _dick head_. Before he left for rehab, or _whatever_ , he was basically a coke-head with a bad temper. He seems pretty chill, if not a little pompous, at first, but I've seen him beat some guy to near death with a _baseball bat_."

Roxas made a noncommittal grunt and Hayner assumed it was because Roxas didn't exactly run with the most upstanding citizens, either. Hayner could see the cogs in Roxas' mind turning, the blonde was biting his bottom lip in thought and Hayner frowned, "All I'm saying is that he's a wolf in sheep's clothing, but I'm not here to tell you what to do. " Hayner supplied, finally unpausing the game much to Roxas annoyance.

There was a brief stint of silence between them, both heatedly concentrated on the game before Hayner seemingly sacrificed himself to a Hunter before he scrunched his face up into confusion, realization coming over him once more, "Wait—does that mean _Axel's_ gay _too_?"

"It's too bad that there's not enough money in the world that could buy you some _tact_." Roxas snorted, shaking his head as he stood up with the intention of going to the bathroom, leaving Hanyer to sort through the newly discovered information

 **Zexion**

Zexion had intended to spend his five-minute break with a cigarette to ease his nerves, but he instead found himself in the bathroom engaging in a mind-numbing loop. He'd gone to the bathroom to wash his hands, hoping to remove the perceived sticky-residue that came from working with pastries. Only, he couldn't get the residue off. So he washed his hands again. And then, _again_.

Truth be told, it had become an insatiable habit in the back of his mind that he'd been harboring over the last five months. He found himself repeating his actions, convinced things weren't right and required a double-take. It was small things. Such as clicking the car-lock button several times in a row, checking and rechecking that he'd locked the door, and now, hand-washing. Zexion thought it was normal; strange quirks. Nothing to worry about it, _really._

 _So why couldn't he stop washing his hands?_

As the adolescent pulled his hands back from the scalding water, he worked his fingers over his skin, squinting and unsquinting to figure out why his hands weren't getting clean. He couldn't see it, but he felt it. As he put his hands back under the scalding water, lathering his hands with soap once more, he didn't register the bathroom door opening until he looked up and saw Demyx in the mirror's reflection. He felt the involuntarily desire to jump, but he remained grounded in place, uncleanliness taking precedence over his sympathetic nervous system.

"What?" The question was curt, biting even.

"Your five-minute break was over—" Demyx made a spectacle of looking at his nonexistent wrist-watch before concluding, "-ten minutes ago."

"That's—" Zexion felt the argument on the tip of his tongue, the desire to vehemently deny that he'd been washing his hands for fifteen minutes, but the truth was, he didn't know how long he'd been in the bathroom.

"Have you been washing your hands this entire time?" Demyx stepped closer, as if trying to get a better look. There was momentary confusion written on Demyx's face before it dissolved into realization. It was the type of look that made Zexion's heart race, hammering all the way up into his skull.

As if to make a point, Zexion turned the water off and pulled his hands back away from the sink. He rubbed skin over skin on his hands, trying to satisfy the neurological pathway that would grant him the opportunity to be done with it. It never came, though. Instead, Zexion found himself turning the water back on, steam rising and clouding up the mirror.

"That water is scalding.." Demyx retorted calmly, if not cautiously, and Zexion hadn't even noticed Demyx approaching him until the blonde turned the water off and grabbed his wrists. With little effort on Demyx's part, Zexion was forced to face him. With palms facing upward and contrasting with Demyx's tanned hands on his wrists, it was the first time Zexion realized how reddened his own hands were. They were dry, skin cracking and blistering from the hot-water and the soap he'd been reapplying to his skin.

More off-putting than his damaged skin, was the look Demyx was giving him. Zexion couldn't quite place what the emotional state was, but it made him borderline homicidal. If he had an iota of impulsivity in him, Zexion swore it would've been used to claw Demyx's eyes out of his eye-sockets because how dare he look at him as if he was _damaged_.

"You have OCD." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

The accusation had Zexion's skin crawling as he unceremoniously tore his hands free from Demyx's grasp, gritting teeth, "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just—" Zexion started, averting his eyes in faltering defeat, "Everyone has quirks." Zexion trailed off.

"A quirk is clicking you tongue when you're bored, this—" To emphasize his point, Demyx grabbed one of Zexion's hands again, turning it palm up once more, "—is an _illness_. It's compulsive."

The word 'illness' had Zexion flinching out of discomfort, the mere indication that a flaw existed within him was enough to have him biting the inside of his cheek until his mouth filled with a bitter metallic tang, " _Fuck off_." Zexion finally snapped, punctuating each word with a shaky voice while pulling his hand away again to push past Demyx. In the heated exchange, Zexion found himself yanking the apron off him and tossing it in the trash, determined to quit what he considered to be the absolute worst job he had the privilege of having.

 **Kairi**

"Kairi Marie Prescott, if you don't open this door I swear—"

The threat was idle, evaporating into the air the moment the words left her mother's mouth. There was a pause before the knocking returned with new ambition, but Kairi didn't move. She laid curled up in a cave created from plush blankets and expensive sheets. Her room was dimly lit, the only light source coming from the numerous candles that lined her dresser and vanity. Kairi herself wore a pair of black-satin pajams and Lana Del Rey's sorrowful voice served as the ultimate back drop to her mourning.

Kairi's phone had not stopped blowing-up since the party, accusations and name-calling thrown he way with such ferocity that Kairi wondered if she really had sent the school-wide text message about Sora. Which she, of course, hadn't. With her popularity plummeting quicker than Iggy Azlea's career, she had no choice but to hide herself in the safe confines of her bedroom for the rest of eternity. Or, at the very least, until her mother dragged her back to school.

When the knocking didn't cease, Kairi sighed in exasperation as she managed to lift herself out of bed with what little strength she had left. Before opening the door, she paused to wipe tears from her reddened eyes, inhaling sharply as she opened the door, "Can't you see that I'm in mourning?" Kairi protested, throat thick with mucus from crying.

Her mother looked her over, taking in Kairi's dramatics with a look that said dramatics were a normal occurence. Which, of course, they were."What's that smell?" Her mother stepped past her daughter, nose scrunched up as she made a show of looking around the room for the foul source.

"It's Patchouli, mother." Kairi spoke with exaggereated exasperation, gesturing to the aromatherapy candle, "It's for depression."

"Well, it smells awful." Her mother picked up the candle where she promptly blew it out. Kairi gasped, but it seemingly fell on deaf ears as her mother switched on the bedroom lights, "Is this about Riku?" Her mother looked at her now, lips pursed as she waited expectantly.

"No. I, Kairi Prescott, don't cry over _boys_. Even _Riku_." Kairi rolled her eyes, feigning disgust at the mere notion. Though, if she were honest, she supposed Riku did have _something_ to do with her current state. Not only had he accused her of being involved with the text-message scandal, but he had intended to spoil what little fun she actually had planned. It didn't make sense, especially since it'd been Riku who told her about Sora's degrading remark.

"Then what is this about?" Her mother's tone pitched, wrist flicking skyward as she tried to make sense of her daughter's spiraling dramatics.

"The _death_ of my social reputation." Kairi spoke with such astounding authority that even her mother took pause of the situation just before laughing.

" _Kairi,_ you're being very _dramatic_." Her mother exhaled sharply, coming to embrace her daughter while patting her head, "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not nearly as bad as you think. You've mourned all weekend, and I even let you stay home from school today, but tomorrow you go back."

Kairi frowned into the embrace, contemplating whether or not she could actually share her woes, but she eventually decided against it. Instead, she nodded with a sigh of defeat, allowing her mother to kiss her forehead before she walked out of the room.

 **Riku**

The male had just finished sparing with his boxing partner at the gym, taking a moment to catch his breath and hydrate himself. After wiping off excess sweat off the back of his neck with a towel and removing the boxing tape around his fingers, he picked up his phone to put the ringer back on and check if he missed any text-messages while working out.

As the screen lit-up, Riku found himself frowning as he spotted a notification from the newly launched 'X' website. With a frustrated sigh, wondering if morbid curiosity was a good enough reason to subscribe to the site in the first place, he opened the app. As the app loaded, Riku felt his stomach drop.

 **"Uh-oh, Riku, it looks like you're not the _only_ team captain Kairi cheers for. – X"**

With the post was a photo of Kairi in the heat of making out with someone Riku was certain was on the lacrosse team, but he couldn't make out the entirety of his face. Riku gritted his teeth, rolling his jaw as he contemplated homicide. Instead, he snatched his gym-bag off the floor and left with a steadily quickening pace.

It took him just short of thirty minutes to drive to Kairi's house and jog up the front steps where he knocked on the door, attempting to maintain his resolve until he was in front of Kairi. When Kairi's mother answered the door, he smiled meekly, "Thought I'd check in on Kairi." He supplied, recalling how the girl had sent him an obscure text message the day after the party to inform him that she'd be 'going off the grid' which usually meant theatrical dramatics that, after half a decade, Riku still didn't know how to handle. Thus, he usually stayed away.

"She's up in her room, sulking. " Kairi's mother, Jaqueline, smiled faintly, "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

Riku doubted it, but he smiled nonetheless as he ascended up the stairs and then up into the attic where he knocked on the door. There was a languid 'come in', as if the girl was suffering from a terminal illness rather than dealing with adolescent turmoil. Riku opened the door hastily before slamming it shut more roughly than he intended.

"Rude—" Kairi had started, only to stop when she spotted Riku, "Oh—Riku—what-?" The question trailed off and Riku tossed his phone at her, knowing that Kairi's 'off-the-grid' usually involved disconnecting herself from all forms of contact to the outside world.

As Kairi fumbled with the cell-phone, Riku paced around the room, using the elastic band around his wrist to tie his hair up. There was an audible gasp from Kairi, "That _bitch_. I told you it wasn't me." Kairi spoke with a newly found air of superiority, taking the moment to bask in the glory of a point well-proven.

"Missing the point, Kairi." Riku snapped, exasperation evident as he extended his arms in a shrug, "What the fuck is that?"

Kairi squinted at the picture, bringing the phone closer to her face, "Pretty sure that's the lacrosse player I hooked up with during summer break. Hey, you should really apologize to me for that accusation—"

Riku gritted his teeth, "Do you realize what this means?"

"Apologize." Kairi insisted, breaking the word into phonemes, eyes-widening in expectance.

Riku sighed, joining Kairi on the bed where he rolled his jaw in aggravation, "I'm sorry for thinking you would out Sora, _or anyone,_ for that matter." The apology was rushed and laced with panic, but genuine.

"Good. Now, _look_ , it's not that big of a deal. We just pretend to break-up, give it, like, a month and we'll get back together. No one will suspect a thing." Kairi smiled, seemingly disinterested in the turn of events. In fact, if Riku were honest, he was pretty sure she was _happy_.

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't hook up with anyone from our school. I thought you were seeing that college guy?" Riku exhaled, slowly calming at the notion that a back-up plan existed, even if it was sure to generate a lot of gossip.

"Well, I was, but explaining my _homosexual_ high-school boyfriend is mildly difficult, _so_ " Kairi made a 'popping' sound with her lips, "I can't believe someone took pictures of that. Talk about creepy." Kairi continued, distracted with looking at the picture with mild disgust, "And look at my hair! It's horrid. This is _so_ not cool."

"Kairi—" Riku interrupted, eyes-widening as if to remind her that his issue was a little more important than hers, "What if someone finds out?"

"No one is going to find out unless you tell them. And even if someone did find out, who cares? You're still Riku just—" Kairi paused, extending her arms out towards the heavens, fingers wiggling in 'jazz-hand' formation, "— _really_ gay." She sang through a giggle.

" _Thanks._ " Riku lamented, rolling his eyes.

Kairi smiled, it was softer than her usual one and she shifted on the bed before patting the spot next to her. With some reluctance, Riku joined her, laying down where he draped his arm around Kairi's shoulders and she nestled into his side, "It's going to be fine, Riku." Kairi insisted, patting his abdomen in comfort.

Kairi then shifted so that her chin rested on his pectorals, pout forming on her face, "Why'd you even tell Sora that Larxene and I were planning something?" The question was abrupt, making Riku shift uncomfortably. Truth was, he still didn't know why he felt guilty. He didn't feel guilty about much, not even leading Namine on or picking fights with Roxas. Yet, he couldn't escape the hurt look that Sora had given him in the hallway when he rejected to help hang up posters. It was seared into his brain along with the all-out panic that Sora had exhibited in the wake of the text-message scandal.

"I don't know. I felt bad, I guess." Riku spoke softly, barely above a whisper as he sighed. Kairi didn't say anything to it, though, turning to rest her head back on his chest.

 **Authors Note:** Sorry for the delay. I'm doing the end of the semester sprint to the finish line.


End file.
